Different views on finances

It's interesting to me how so many people can have so many completely opposite views of money. I wonder why that is, and while I'm sure that your learning environment plays a part, I can't help but think that there are many other factors involved. So many times I've had conversations with my parents, about things that seem so logical to me, and yet, we have differing viewpoints.

My father and I had such a conversation this weekend. While I was reconciling my most recent bank statements, he began to question me about the different accounts that I had, particularly savings accounts. (I have a local savings account, with just enough in it to cover an immediate emergency, with the rest of my emergency funds, as well as savings toward irregular expenses in an online money market account).

He also asked if I had set up overdraft protection with my checking and savings accounts. (With overdraft protection, if I overdraw my checking account, my bank will use funds from my savings account to cover the overdrawn items, and charge a fee less than what I would be charged without overdraft protection). I don't, because I don't see the need for it. The only way I should be overdrawing my checking account is because I'm not paying attention, and the money in my savings account should be saved for true emergencies. If any of those come up, I ought to be aware of it enough to intentionally use the emergency fund.

Dad doesn't agree - he thinks that overdraft protection provides a nice "cushion." I say that the overdraft protection isn't the cushion, the money is. And the money is still there, and easily accessible. In fact, it's even more guaranteed to be accessible, because I won't ever dip into it without meaning to.

I didn't explain this to him, though - I just changed the subject. My father is a very intelligent man, and ordinarily very logical - just not always when it comes to money.