Our regular savings behavior shows that most adults have not learned a lot since they were young.

As children, the vast majority of us had a piggy bank where we would store away every penny we were given by our relatives, with the end goal usually being that we ended up raiding it so we could go by some candy, long before we ever hit our goal number.

What’s funny is that we haven’t really grown up that much since those childhood days, and it seems that all attempts to save fall flat. Sometimes it’s an emergency that requires us to withdraw our savings, but other times it’s taking a little bit here and there to go do something fun, until the piggy runs dry.

With the economy in something of a funk, many of us have been forced to re-think the idea of the regular savings account, as most financial experts will tell you that you should really have 3 to 6 months’ worth of monthly expenses saved, in case of an emergency. Now that we understand the need to have a regular savings account, we should also have a clear picture of what we need to know before rushing out to the closest bank and getting started with saving again.

Your Regular Piggy

Having a regular savings account (contrary to a regular stock market investing fund) is very much like having a piggy bank in that our savings are considered liquid, which basically means that we can have access to our money anytime we wish. That’s great, but some institutions will place limits on how many transactions you can perform in a given month before fees and penalties start kicking in. Be sure to read the rules, and all the fine print, before opening any regular saving account.

The flagging economy has hit the banks hard too, and that means that they are eager to get your business, and are prepared to pay a little extra for it. While a regular savings account usually means low interest, a little bit of shopping around will reveal that not all banks are created equal, and that may mean that you will find one that is prepared to pay you a better interest rate on your savings account. Take the time to check out as many as possible, and see if you can turn their rates to your advantage.

Online Regular Savings

Regular savings accounts are not just limited to bricks and mortar storefront banks anymore, and there are now a large number of online only banks, many of whom are dangling some pretty large carrots to get you through their virtual front doors. A little bit of homework is required again, just to make sure that the online bank you choose is on the up and up. The most important thing to pay attention to is to whether or not the online bank is FDIC insured; this is a must in order to keep your money safe.

While there are plenty of other options when it comes to building a little nest egg (see here our investing guide), most of which will offer much higher interest rates, the regular savings account is the perfect way to have money at hand that you can easily access should a sticky situation arise, and you won’t even have to smash your precious piggy bank to get at it.

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