Financial Literacy – Saving Smart

Smart savings habits are key to achieving your future goals.

Here is a question to ponder… When did you start setting savings goals?

As a Banker, I saw many many people from all walks of life. Some old, some young, some wealthy, some regular Joes, and some really struggling with money.

Funny enough, a common thread between all of them was a lack of savings planning. The reason for the common thread… they didn’t learn the habit to save money early enough.

They were solely focused on the day to day concern of making money.

But here is the kicker, it takes both earning and saving to reach your goals, and the earlier you start saving, the more likely you are to get to where you want to be.

So let’s give the kids of today the best gift we can towards their future: the habit of saving. Here are our top 2 tips:

1. Money grows when you “save it and leave it”.

Explain it to them this way… If you save $1/day every day and you start saving when you are 10 years old, by the time you are 60, you will have saved $18,250.

When you factor in compound interest, it grows to $105,972. That jump is the value of “save it and leave it”.

2. To reach their goals, teach your kids to “Set, Sort and Save”.

Set – Set your savings goals. What things do you want to save for, how much do they cost and when do you want them.

Sort – Sort out how much money you will put towards each goal.

Save – Save for all your goals at the same time.

Financial education has many components. Smart savings habits are one of the key pillars of being financially sound. Make it part of your everyday teaching.