Woman reveals why she keeps a balance of $4,000 in her checking account

The ideal balance to keep in a checking account has been up for debate for a long time. While some people like to maintain a minimum balance, many in the current economic climate can’t afford to do so. Meanwhile, others who are financially savvy like to keep their money in a savings account instead of gathering interest. While there are many ways to go about it, one creator on TikTok has sparked fresh debate after claiming that she panics if her checking account goes below $4000. The video shared by 23-year-old Kristen Bednarczyk has divided viewers on what people should do with their checking accounts.

How much should you keep in your checking account?

Lifestyle, fitness, and finance content creator, Bednarczyk, shared the video which now has over 1.2 million views after a chat with some of her friends. She says that she talked about how much everyone keeps in their checking account and was surprised to see how differently everyone approaches it.

Bednarczyk then says that she likes to keep at least $4000 in her account and she panics when the number goes below that. She says her job allows her to do so and stay at that number. However, after listening to her friends, she got curious about how others approach it. Thus, she asked her viewers to comment on the video about how they approached the topic.

While several viewers said they were too broke to keep anything in their checking account, some viewers shared some informative views. Sharing some sound financial advice, one viewer (@capeybara) said that they like to keep about $1000 in their checking account and put any surplus into a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA) to make some interest on that money. Even Bednarczyk agreed with the viewer and said she was considering moving some of her money as well.

Meanwhile, some viewers agreed with the creator’s strategy and considered doing the same. Viewer (@uf0.jpeg) said that while she likes to keep a minimum of $1500 in her checking account, she is now considering taking it up to $4,000 as well. She said it would be safer for car issues, hospital stuff, and more.

What’s the ideal amount to keep in a checking account?

Checking accounts are designed to take care of regular expenses like paying bills, loans, and other stuff. Thus, there's no specific number to aim for when it comes to how much money to keep in a checking account. However, as per experts, it is best to keep one to two months of expenses in a checking account, as per a TIME Magazine report.

If a family’s monthly expenses are $4000, it would be ideal to keep $8,000 in the checking account to take care of all expenses. Thus, a family’s budget, spending habits, and savings goals should all be considered before deciding how much money to put into a checking account. The TIME report also shared the 50/30/20 budgeting rule popularized by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The rule advocates allocating 50% of a family’s income toward needs, 30% towards wants, and 20% towards savings. According to this, about 80% of a family's income can be kept in a checking account as well.

For more fitness and finance content, you can follow Kristen Bednarczyk (@kbedfinance) on TikTok.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 18, 2024. It has since been updated.