Reflecting on Banking fees etc.

Given the interest rates in the range of .15% to 1.2%....wow not even equal to the cost of living increase - I started to look at savings versus loans.  Now loans are running in the 6.5% to 9.4% as recently reported in the Globe and Mail.  My first thought was what a gap and my second thought was the banks must be making some money.  Next I looked banking fees.  Here is my conclusion:

1) that I would make more money paying off my car loan at 6.5% and roughly $40/month interest and $14 in insurance. So for $44/month I don't have to pay if it was paid off versus $5,900 at 1.2% in savings or $5.90/month that I would save in a high end savings account.  The difference of roughly $38/month or almost $500 year by paying down my loan rather than saving money in a savings account.

2) that having my savings money sit in my chequing account rather than a separate 'savings account' would save me $13.95/month in service fees.  The return for not giving the bank by service fee is 5.58% compared to 'earning' interest of 1.2%. 

Now if the rate of return on investments or savings accounts change I'll revisit my thoughts on it but for now, not paying the bank is more money for me! 

If you have money in savings, consider that it might be put to better use in paying down loans than sitting in an account not earning money for you....just the bank.