How Many Savings Accounts Should I Have?

Understand how many saving account one should have.
How Many Savings Accounts do I Need
3 min
23-April-2024

Savings accounts provide a convenient method for storing readily accessible funds. You are not limited to a single account and may open multiple accounts as needed. This strategy is particularly beneficial for individuals with distinct savings goals who prefer to segregate their funds accordingly.

While there is generally no restriction on the number of savings accounts you can hold, it is advisable to limit yourself to approximately three. Managing multiple accounts accounts can complicate financial tracking and increase the burden of maintaining minimum balances across multiple accounts.

Also Read: PPF Account for Minors

Is it a good idea to have multiple savings accounts?

Opening multiple savings accounts is a good idea if you have specific savings goals in mind. Different accounts help prioritise goals and determine how much and how often you wish to save for a goal. With a targeted savings approach, you can decide on the savings amount for each goal and their fulfilment timeframes.

However, if managing multiple savings accounts seems challenging, simply create separate spending and saving accounts to better organise your finances. One account can be used simply for expense management, while the other can be used to build a savings corpus. This will simplify money management and make tracking easier.

Pros of having multiple savings accounts

Also Read: How to Link Aadhaar with EPF

1. Easily monitor your savings progress

From funding your child’s education to retirement planning, most of us have multiple savings goals. Creating separate accounts for each savings goal makes it easy to monitor your savings progress. With this approach, you can avoid misspending your savings and conveniently track your savings for each goal.

2. Higher interest rates

Following the deregulation of savings account interest rates by the RBI in 2011, banks have the freedom to decide on the interest applicable to such accounts. In other words, you can earn better returns from a high-yield savings account. While average savings accounts offer an interest rate of 2%-3%, high-yield accounts offer up to 4.5% interest on the saved funds.

Also Read: How to Check PPF Account Balance

3. Reduce dependency on one bank

Digital framework maintenance, server issues, and outage issues can cause hurdles when trying to make online payments. You can avoid this by having multiple bank accounts. If one account is not working, you can always switch to the next and make transactions.

Cons of having multiple savings accounts

1. Difficulty in tracking and management

Operating and managing multiple savings accounts can be a significant challenge. Multiple savings accounts mean monitoring multiple statements and going over every expense. All this can be very time consuming.

2. Maintaining minimum balance

Regular savings accounts come with a minimum balance requirement, which can range from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 25,000 depending on the bank you're opening your account with. Opening multiple accounts means meeting the minimum balance requirement of each account. Adhering to the minimum balance clauses of multiple accounts ties up your funds, which could be better invested. Additionally, failure to meet the minimum balance requirement results in a penalty.

You can consider investing in fixed deposit as offer guaranteed returns.

3. Possibility of losing out on higher interest rates

This is one of the most overlooked disadvantages of multiple savings accounts. Savings account interest rates often vary based on the balance. In other words, you receive higher interest rates only when your balance surpasses a certain threshold. However, if you have multiple accounts with such varying interest rates, reaching this higher threshold can take a while. In short, spreading your funds across multiple accounts means you miss out on the benefits of higher interest rates.

Also Read: How to transfer PF online using UAN

How much savings should I have

The amount of savings you should have depends on various factors such as your income, expenses, financial goals, and risk tolerance. A general rule of thumb is to aim for an emergency fund covering 3 to 6 months of living expenses. Additionally, you may want to save for specific goals like buying a house, funding education, or retirement. It's essential to create a budget, prioritise your goals, and regularly save and invest according to your financial plan.

Apart from keeping funds in a savings account, you can also park your contingency funds in a high-interest FD. Bajaj Finance offers one of the highest interest rate of up to 8.85% p.a. on their FD. Also, you can book Bajaj Finance FD entirely online through Bajaj Finserv website or app.

Conclusion

Opening separate savings accounts for your goals offers better visibility and helps sharpen your approach to goal-based savings. However, as a prudent depositor, you should carefully check the interest rates, minimum balance requirements, and services offered by each savings account you pick. This will help you maximise your savings benefits.

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Frequently asked questions

How many bank accounts are too many?

It depends on how many you can manage and oversee. Experts suggest limiting the total number of bank accounts to 3.

Does it cost money to have multiple savings accounts?

It can cost money to maintain multiple savings accounts if you fail to meet the minimum balance requirements of such accounts.

Can you open multiple savings accounts at the same bank?

Yes. You are allowed to open multiple savings accounts in the same bank.

Disclaimer

As regards deposit taking activity of Bajaj Finance Ltd (BFL), the viewers may refer to the advertisement in the Indian Express (Mumbai Edition) and Loksatta (Pune Edition) furnished in the application form for soliciting public deposits or refer https://www.bajajfinserv.in/fixed-deposit-archives
The company is having a valid Certificate of Registration dated March 5, 1998 issued by the Reserve Bank of India under section 45 IA of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. However, the RBI does not accept any responsibility or guarantee about the present position as to the financial soundness of the company or for the correctness of any of the statements or representations made or opinions expressed by the company and for repayment of deposits/discharge of the liabilities by the company.

For the FD calculator the actual returns may vary slightly if the Fixed Deposit tenure includes a leap year.