by Wayne Leon Learmond

Created on: September 04, 2009   Last Updated: September 05, 2009

Never keep your eggs all in one basket. That was the saying my father used to tell me years ago, and I have stood by that ever since. These days when the pace of life is so much faster than it has ever been, and when the pressure to save money - especially during these times of recession is ever present - the choice of whether or not we stick with one bank to put our money into comes to the fore. There was a time not too long ago, when people where earning enough to be able to pick two banks - one for their wages and another for their everyday needs. Of course there was no recession then, so the question of whether or not you should keep all your money in one bank never came about because people had two or maybe three banks already.

But these days in times of financial trouble, when every business and every bank is looking to take your money, can people afford to have more than one bank account now? I think, for the ordinary man in the street, the answer would have to be no. Gone are the days I feel, when people would hold two or three accounts, I think that these days especially, people are much more careful with their money. They simply cannot afford to open up another account, and keep it up and running. Trust comes to the fore here too, for if a person has been with their bank for a good number of years, then the issue of trust comes to play.

Many times I have heard people say that although they believe that all banks are out for one thing - which they are - their attitude is one of: the better the devil they know then the devil they don't. In other words, the vast majority of people are very very loyal to their local banks, and the banks know this and play upon that loyalty. The vast majority of people simply cannot be bothered to open up another bank account and will quite happily stay with the bank that they have been with for years. This is so, even if their bank offers one of the worst interest rates going. I have had many an argument with friends over the same thing.

They moan that their bank does not pay a good rate on their savings, yet they will simply not do anything about it. When I tell them that they could just close their account and go with a bank that pays a higher interest rate, they refuse. A lot of people I have discovered are of the same frame of mind.

Whether one believes that they should keep all their money in the one account is, as I have mentioned, a private matter between themselves and/or their family. They will look at all the

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