December 31, 2009
No matter how hard you try to avoid it, sometimes it seems like your day-to-day living expenses just eat away at your entire paycheck. Putting money away for the future may be the last thing on your mind. Even so, you need to remember that taking care of your longer-term financial goals is just as important as meeting your current needs.
Ever since the days of putting pennies in a piggybank, you've likely received plenty of advice on the value of saving your money. Everyone's heard about the beauty of saving early and often - but how do you put it into practice?
Disciplined investment habits aren't always easy to come by, but there are several things you can do to improve your savings routine. One of the easiest ways is to sign up for automatic e-services, like an electronic funds transfer or ACH. "Paying yourself first" using an automatic, paperless system can help you get in the habit of saving.
Direct deposit allows you to deposit all or part of your paycheck to the account of your choice, so you could choose to set aside a certain portion to go directly to a savings account as opposed to your checking account (where it's tempting, and very easy, to spend!). You might consider setting up an automatic monthly deposit. This is a simple, disciplined way to add to your account, authorizing a specific amount to be transferred from one of your accounts to another (i.e. from checking to an investment account).
Regardless of which method you choose -putting aside money now will help you prepare to reach your financial goals that lie further down the road and the "set it and forget it" method of automatic deposits or transfers works well for many people.
(This article contains the current opinions of the author but not necessarily those of Brighton Securities Corp. The author's opinions are subject to change without notice. This blog post is for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. References to specific securities and their issuers are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended and should not be interpreted as recommendations to purchase or sell such securities).