Smart Banking: The Best Business Accounts for Seniors
As seniors near retirement, they will sometimes reflect on their working lives and delayed dreams and desires. While employed full-time, they may have had many responsibilities including raising children, maintaining a household, and everything that comes with all those responsibilities. Personal dreams and desires would certainly have been put on hold with little hope of ever accomplishing those dreams.
But sometimes, a senior who is retiring and whose above responsibilities are no longer as urgent as they once were, will re-think realizing a dream and bringing it to fruition such as opening a business or finally writing that best seller. In essence, becoming an entrepreneur.
“I’m going to start my own business!” they might declare and begin doing the research regarding how to do their business banking.
In searching for the best places to open a business bank account as a senior, we found just a few banks that cater specifically to our elder population’s general banking needs, but none stood out as banks offering services specifically for senior entrepreneurs.
So, what’s the next best thing? That would be finding a bank or credit union that offers certain perks like low or zero fees, a decent Annual Percentage Yield (APY), and some personal service in managing your business account.
If you are a senior person who is considering making a dream come true via a small business, then look at the following banking institutions listing the pros and cons for each. Maybe, you’ll find a financial institution listed that best suits your needs.
Chase
Chase tops this list as a good bank for seniors. They have low fees, low balance requirements, and services like online bill pay, and autosave. Autosave makes it easy to schedule automatic transfers to a savings account from your checking account that can be spent on managing your business.
In addition, if you open a Chase Total Checking Account, you can earn $200 by setting up Direct Deposit within 90 days of opening your account.
Cons: Chase offers no APY and there are no reimbursements for out-of-network ATM usage.
Golden1 Credit Union
This credit union offers a special package for seniors 62 and over called Golden Prestige that charges no monthly fee, and unlimited check writing. Your first box of checks is free but then you’ll get an extra box of free checks every year. Seniors can also get up to ten free cashier’s checks per account each month.
Cons: There is a high monthly fee if you are not enrolled in Golden Prestige. (If you choose this bank, make sure you are opening the right account for you as a senior citizen.) You must also maintain a daily balance of $1,000 to earn interest.
Axos Bank
This bank’s basic checking account will pay a 0.10% APY and reimburse a maximum of $8 per month on domestic ATM fees. This account will provide some security features like account monitoring for possible fraud.
Axos Bank offers citizens 55 or older what they call the “Axos Bank Golden Checking” account which will provide free checks and charge no maintenance fees.
Cons: Their requirement for an opening balance is higher than most banks.
Bank of America
Bank of America does not offer a checking account for seniors, but they do deliver services designed to protect the financial health of our seniors. They offer discounted membership at AARP, fraud prevention services, estate services, and educational resources to help you identify scams. If you suspect being a victim of a scammer, they will assist you in reporting it.
Cons: They offer no specific account for seniors.
TD Bank
TD Bank offers a type of checking account called TD 60 Plus Checking. They require a low opening balance and a host of perks including a 0.25% discount on home equity and personal loans. Additionally, you can get free money orders, Zelle, free bank transfers from other banks, online banking, and bill pay.
Cons: TD Bank has a low (0.11%) APY and they only have 2,600 in-network ATMs.
Bonus: Since the above-listed banking institutions merely show some of the best places to do your banking. None have services concerning business management and business bill paying listed on their websites for seniors. You will need a money tool.
Consider QuickBooks Checking. This outfit can help you grow your money with a 5.00% APY. QuickBooks Checking will send personalized invoices to your clients or a payment link and offer a variety of ways your client can pay their bills.
Here is a recap of the three types of accounts to choose from.
- QuickBooks Money: This is their basic business banking account plan and has no monthly fees but there are fees you will need to pay per transaction. This account is just for managing your funds with no bookkeeping services.
- QuickBooks Simple Start: This plan carries a fee of $30 per month with a 50% discount on fees during the first three months of your account. Along with all the basic perks of the QuickBooks Money account, this account will also offer business loans, a cash flow history report, and a cash flow planner among other business services.
To help you manage other accounting duties like tax deductions, mileage tracking, and income and expenses, they offer a free guided setup.
- QuickBooks Essentials: This is their most robust plan with a fee of $60 per month with a 50% discount for three months, they offer all the above perks as well as entering time, and the ability to connect three sales channels where the QuickBooks Simple Start will allow you to connect just one sales channel.
As is evident from the first five choices, most financial institutions do little in the way of assisting senior citizens who are budding entrepreneurs amid launching small businesses with business-related banking.
Go yonder and follow your dreams! Build that business and good luck!
