From opening a checking account to applying for a loan, we use banks for many different purposes in regards our money as well as our lifestyles (and the money that we need to live them). Opening a checking account for the first time can be a daunting experience, especially if you have to go to a brick and mortar location of your preferred bank. Brick and mortar locations, though they may be slowly becoming obsolete in a number of ways due to the popular and wide spread use of mobile banking apps and features, is still important – for applying for a loan, for opening an account, and for asking any questions that you may have about you account or your loan (and these questions are certainly not uncommon. In fact, it is far better to ask them and understand as much about your finances and your financial situation as you possible can).

Though opening a checking account is one of the most common things the average person can do at a bank, applying for a loan (because there isn’t enough money in that checking account) is also extremely common. There a number of loans that people apply for, from loans for houses to loans to finance their educations, and each loan will differ slightly from situation to situation. When in the process of choosing a bank, it is important to choose a bank staffed with people that you respect and trust, as you are likely to need their professional advice and help should you ever decide to take out a loan (as most of us eventually will, some of us more than once in our lives).

Taking a mortgage out when buying a home is extremely common, as it is now nearly unheard of to be able to pay for your home upfront and out of pocket. In fact, nearly one hundred percent of all people under the age of thirty six who were buying a home did so with the help of a mortgage. The percentage among older adults, aged sixty two and older, is still high when it comes to financing a home – hovering around sixty eight percent. This can be attributed in part due to the fact that millennials are more in debt than any current generation. Prices keep rising in the world, for houses and cars and education (as well as nearly everything else that is able to be bought) but the average salary of a typical, college educated millennial is as much as twenty percent less than it had been just a few decades ago.

School loans are also commonly taken out by millennials (as well as other generations who are returning to school to finish a degree or to begin advanced degrees) as the prices of colleges and universities all throughout the country have been steadily on the rise in recent years. Student loan debt is immense, with a typical college student in the United States ending up with as much as twenty thousand dollars of debt by the time that they graduate. Take into account that many people take longer than four years to receive their bachelor’s degree and you can virtually see the amount of that debt increasing exponentially. With a total of one trillion dollars in student loan debt country wide, it is most definitely a problem – and not an uncommon one – faced by many current, future, and past students.

From the opening of a checking account to the application for a loan (be it a mortgage, a car loan, or, probably most commonly, a student loan) it is important to do your business with a bank that you trust, a bank that you feel protects your information as well as, most importantly, your best interests.