Once you are earning more money than you need to get by each month, you’ll want to go beyond a checking account and start saving and investing your money to give yourself more financial security.
With money in savings, you can handle irregular expenses like car repairs even if they don’t fit into your monthly budget. A large enough emergency fund can tide you over during a period of unemployment. And once you have several months’ worth of emergency savings, you’ll want to transfer your extra savings into a retirement account.
You simply can’t take advantage of the opportunity to earn money in the stock market or earn interest on deposits if you’re only willing to keep your money under your mattress or on a prepaid debit card.