At What Age Can You Start a Student Savings Account?

The best student bank accounts are those that allow you to earn interest while still having access to your money. If you have a student savings account, it is important to know how much interest you are earning and when your money will be available.

Student bank accounts generally start at the age of 16

The minimum age requirement for student bank accounts is 16 years old. This applies to both primary account holders and joint account holders. Most banks will require that one of these adults be the parent or legal guardian of the child opening an account, but this can vary by institution.

Most banks allow minors to open their own savings accounts, but some may require a parent or guardian to open an account on behalf of a minor child as well as sign up for monthly deposits into that account. Banks also vary in terms of how much money they allow you to deposit per month into your student savings account before making you wait until you are 18 years old before they allow larger deposits.

The best student bank accounts for students under 18 are cash accounts, rather than savings accounts

The best student bank accounts for students under 18 are cash accounts, rather than savings accounts.

Cash accounts are a good way to start saving because they allow you to use your debit card to make purchases and withdraw money from an ATM. They also offer direct deposit and automatic savings plans so that you can automatically transfer some of your paychecks into the account.

This means that you don’t have to think about saving money—you can just let your paycheck go directly into the account every month, helping build up some savings for college or whatever else comes along!

It is still important for children to have money saved for college, even if they qualify for financial aid

Even if your child qualifies for financial aid, saving money for college is still important. Financial aid is not guaranteed, and even if you qualify for financial aid, you may still need to pay some money out of pocket. Financial aid is based on the family’s income and assets, not just the student’s income. You might be eligible for some offers depending on the bank you use for the student bank account. As per SoFi’s experts, “Get $10* when you sign up with your .edu email address and add at least $10 to your account.”

Do not wait until you are ready to go to college to open an account

You may think, “Why should I start saving for college when I am still in middle or high school?”

The answer is simple: It is never too early to plan for the future. The earlier you begin saving, the more money you will have in your account by the time of college.

In addition to saving for college expenses, another reason why it is important to start saving now is so that you can take advantage of compound interest. Compound interest occurs when an interest rate applies not just to the principal amount but also to its accumulated earnings (or losses). This means that if your savings earn 5 percent per year of interest, after one year, they earn 1 percent of their total value as a result of that compounding effect — meaning they earned 6 percent overall — then at the end of two years, they’ll have earned 7 percent compounded annually; after three years.

If you are a parent with a child about to start their first year of high school, you should consider opening a student bank account online. This will help teach them how to manage money and prepare them for when they go off to college.