austinkleon:

Really great interview on checking account, savings, and money:

The Fed has kept interest rates incredibly low for a very long time now, and this is the second time we’ve done this in the last decade. And in general, the stock market loves that. Banks like it because they can loan money cheaply. And if you’re in the market for a house, it’s probably good for you.

But if you are a saver, if you’re conservative financially with your money, a lot of older folks, what they do in order to provide income to themselves, is they have CDs that they roll over every month or every three months. It’s killing people like that.

Savings accounts are almost worthless in America right now, and we have this long stretch where interest earnings are basically gone. And we have essentially picked winners and losers in the marketplace. By having these low interest rates, we’re trying to make winners out of people who want to invest in houses and invest in stocks. But we’re making(ph) now losers out of people who saved a lot of money, who you think should be getting gold stars right now, given what’s happened with the economy.

Sullivan’s new book is Stop Getting Ripped Off.

I sat in my freezing car outside of my warm apartment to listen to this interview.