The Importance of Multiple Bank Accounts
Never put all of your eggs in one basket!
I am not a financial expert by any means. But I can confidently say that I have been working, earning, saving & planning my finances long enough to gain some useful tips on how to increase your financial security.
In addition to my “main” income, I also had some additional work on the side that I do in my own time on occasion. I have music that can generate income via sales or streams. I have some investments that I regularly keep track of. Having these multiple sources of income has given me some extra security, but it got me thinking about how my finances are stored.
There have been times over the years where i have been unable to access funds in my bank account for a temporary period of time due to technical errors, a broken banking app, false flagging of “fraud” (I think we’ve all had this one right?…) and as you probably know, not having immediate access to your funds can cause some serious problems.
What kind of problems are we talking about here?
It can range from not being able to withdraw cash urgently, not being able to use your card to top up your Oyster Card (for all you London based commuters) or using your bank card to travel directly. Being unable to send funds for rent payments, bills, shopping… The list goes on and on! None of these situations are ones we want to be stuck in, even on a good day.
On one occasion, this actually caused some serious problems when I was unable to pay my rent due to technical errors with my bank leaving me completely unable to access my funds! Not ideal. At. All. Letting agents and Landlords are not usually the reasonable types either.
So how can i ensure this doesn’t happen again?
To avoid being thrown into this kind of situation again, I took the age old advice of not putting all of my eggs in one basket, and decided to get another basket to keep some eggs in.
Since opening a second bank account and moving funds in there regularly, it’s a layer of security that I believe EVERYONE should have. And good job i did because since opening this second account, there was yet ANOTHER situation of a technical error leaving me unable to access online banking. Am I really that unlucky?!…
…Only this time, it was not a problem. I simply used my other account to send those urgent funds and my problem was solved before it even began.
So how many baskets should we have?
This is absolutely down to you. It really depends on the individual. There are many options for accounts these days so shop around, make an informed decision, but absolutely have more than one. You never know when an unexpected situation can leave you stranded for a few days!
I would like to reiterate that none of this is financial advice, but it is advice on how to give yourself an extra layer of financial security so that you will never be stuck in a rut again due to circumstances that are completely out of control.
Because I don't know about you, but I like to have a certain degree of control in my stuck-in-a-rut situations!
Thank you for reading and if you don’t practise this already, I hope it has given you something to consider.
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I also have music available to listen to if anyone is interested! Thanks again.