Everyone wants to be rich and in order to do so we have to be wise with our money. The first thing that we need to do is make sure we save some money every month. This has to be a priority, and be treated like a bill to be paid and not something to be done with what is left over every month. If you try to save whatever is left over, you will not have anything to save.
Now the question arises how much should you save? That's a topic for a different day however for the time being let me just tell you that general between 10-15% of earnings should consistently go into savings. If you can maintain that kind of ratio then you are well on your way to financial success. Ofcourse, if you can manage to save more than that, please be my guest because that will mean you will reach financial freedom that much faster.
Now while you are going ahead and starting to save with the earnings of your first job you need to understand and decide your investment strategy. There are so many places to park you money that one can easily get lost. You should conduct serious research in all the money instruments such as bonds, stocks, commodities or alternative forms such as art or coins for the more exquisite investors.
In the meantime you will always have to handle a savings account. This money might be something that is just left over or an account you use to accumulate a certain amount before your buy anything. In any case you ought to understand the important things regarding this.
Firstly, relax to know that savings accounts at federally insured depository institutions are protected by federal deposit insurance. Now as different banks accounts offer different features there are a host of questions you need to check with your bank before you go ahead and start maintaining an account with them.
Ofcourse you need to start with the interest rate. If they can change the rate arbitrarily after you open the account? Do they pay differing rates of interest depending on the amount you have in the account? How often is the interest compounded?
Then there is the other side of things and that is the fees. Will you pay a monthly / quarterly fee to maintain the account? Will there be charges if the balance falls below a certain limit. In case of use with ATM's is there any charge?
So make sure to get all the facts before you open up your next savings account.
One of the reasons people get into out-of-control debt situations is because they do not have a disciplined savings plan. They never learned how to save for what they wanted and utilized credit like a savings account instead of a tool to help procure the high-ticket items in conjunction with some money down from savings. But did you know that you can start a savings plan even in the midst of your debt situation? Just because you are fighting to get out of your personal debt prison does not mean you cannot start saving today. This is a hard to get started with but if you find yourself always using a credit card to get handle emergencies then you need to stop that. The best way to do that is to open a saving account and put aside some money each payday. Even if it is $20.00 you need to put some away and begin to get out of the habit of reaching for your credit card every time an emergency arises. You must budget savings and setting aside something in savings each pay period should be of the utmost importance.
If your employer has a 401K or 403B plan at your work, be part of it. You will be absolutely shocked at how fast the little you contribute builds because of employer matching funds. These are typically plans where your contribution is invested on the stock market or in mutual funds and yields a much higher rate of return then a standard bank savings plan. Except you also need a bank savings account because you need to have a liquid cash reserve to tap into for emergencies.
Setting aside money in savings is hard to get used to if you have not been a saver over your lifetime. Sometimes, you might need just a little incentive. Do you realize that as you pay down credit cards that the money that gets freed up can be put into your savings account? But wouldn't it be nice to give yourself a raise too? Maybe you can do something like give yourself a little pocket money from your next savings deposit as you reward yourself for making this step in the right direction.
It is very important to build you savings for emergencies but you still need to split it up to pay your debt too. It will be tough but hopefully you will have no emergencies while trying to reduce your debt. It is definitely worth a try. In fact it is better to save some instead of hiring a debt counselor, bankruptcy lawyer, or debt consolidation agency that will just eat up your savings. To attack your debt, revise your spending, get a budget and as part of the budget allocate an amount to savings while paying down your debt.
Don't make such a large deposit into savings that you immediately have to go get it back out to pay something. Budget an amount you feel comfortable with and set it aside to build that emergency fund. You will find that you will gradually have to depend on your credit cards less to fund emergencies. And as your debt is reduced, put some of the cash freed up from the payments back into savings. It is much better to build a savings then to spend it on the hounds who are trying to exploit you while in your debt crisis.
Both Adam J. Heist & Terence Young are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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