Knowing how to manage your money (for now and retirement) is one of the most important skills that a man can ever have. It is something you pretty much have complete control of, at least after a certain age. If you don't know how manage money, everything else doesn't matter.

Bank Accounts:

I assume everyone has at least one bank account and if don't, you should definitely have one. For the most part, it's a place to store your money, but also used for things such as paying bills (credit card, rent) and can be used to take out cash when you need it.

Charles Schwab

I don't care if you have $5, $5000, $5 million or $5 billion to your name, this is a bank everyone should get a checking account with. The benefits are amazing. Just to name some (unlimited ATM fee rebates everywhere, no minimums or monthly service fee, mobile deposit, bill pay, etc.) Great customer service and you can get free standard checks sent to you, for check writing (paying rent and other things). Only negative is you can't deposit cash, but I have a BofA account for that. Also can link the checking to their brokerage account for investing, also free. (more on that later) http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

Ally Bank

This is another good bank. Also is free checking and savings with no fees or minimum requirements. The great thing about this bank is that it has one of the highest savings interest rates out there. I think it's like 1% APY. Has many great benefits as well. https://www.ally.com/bank/online-savings-account/

Bank of America, Chase, other big banks

The benefits for having a checking and savings with these banks is depending on where you live, you can find multiple branches and ATMs for depositing cash and other things. The problem is many of these banks tend to have fees if you don't meet a certain requirements. I have a Bank of America checking and savings, but might get rid of the checking account and only keep savings, for the credit card bonus benefit. I will add, Bank of America has a preferred Rewards Program that has numerous benefits, if you meet certain requirements in total assets with them (through checking, savings, merrill edge).

For those who want the convenience of depositing cash and having local branches, but don't want big bank fees and stuff, look into a credit union in your area.

Investment and Retirement Accounts

To start off, everyone who currently has a job should be shooting to saving at least 10-15% of their PRE-TAX, not POST-TAX income, for retirement. Look into how much your company matches and depending on how much they match, take the remaining of the 10-15% and invest in a personal IRA, whether roth (post tax, but gains are tax-free and withdrawals are tax free) or traditional (lowers your taxable income, but you are taxed on gains and stuff when you withdraw money). Usually fees are lower for ETFs or mutual funds in a personal IRA than the 401K through an employer.

Vanguard

This is where I currently have pretty much most of the money saved up for retirement in. Bulk of it being in Roth IRA and some in Traditional. I also have a brokerage account which I use for personal investing. Everyone has their own opinion, but I think Vanguard is great for investing in mutual funds or in zero commission ETFs (which I primarily do). You can find ETFs based on market cap, stocks, bonds, sector, etc. Many people who follow a 3-fund lazy portfolio with Vanguard usually invest in VTI, VXUS and BND.

Robinhood

Great for zero commission stock trading. I buy stocks that I own because it's cheaper than buying stocks through Vanguard, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, etc.

Charles Schwab Brokerage

Also has many zero commission ETFs that you can use for investing and there isn't some minimum balance you need to maintain to invest. If you are buying mutual funds through them, that's a different story, but that's the same with Vanguard, Fidelity or other brokerage accounts. You can link the schwab checking account to instantly fund the account so you can invest the money. For those following a lazy portfolio using Schwab, take a look at SCHB, SCHF and SCHZ. Allocate as you like for both this and the Vanguard one.

Merrill Edge

I don't have this one in particular, but it's one I will probably get when I have at $50K in total assets, due to some of the benefits it has. The Bank of America Preferred Rewards Program has many benefits that can be useful for investors. (free ETF and equity 'stocks' trades)

http://info.bankofamerica.com/preferred-rewards/details/

I can personally say you can't go wrong between Charles Schwab and Vanguard for your investing needs. I have a brokerage account with both Schwab and Vanguard and my personal IRAs with Vanguard. Rolling over my 401K from my previous job to Vanguard was very easy as well.

So this was pretty much an intro on money management through Bank Accounts and Retirement/Investment Accounts. I wanted to give just something for everyone here to think about. Investing money and managing money is important because it teaches you discipline and it's important regarding securing a good retirement. Also important in keeping yourself out of debt as well and knowing how much you are spending and all that. I don't consider somebody a functioning human if they can't mange their own money.

TL;DR - Look into Charles Schwab, credit union and some big banks for you checking and savings needs. Charles Schwab, Vanguard and others are great for personal and retirement investing. Managing your money is important.