1. Not getting the best rate
It pays to shop for virtually everything -- even your money market or savings account. Do an online search rather than simply plunking your money down at your local bank. Yes, we’re only talking about a difference of a few tenths of a percentage point, but look at it this way: In the time it takes you to drive to the bank, you can search hundreds of interest rates online.2. Ignoring inflation
If you think a tank of gas will be the same price when you’re 50 as it was when you were 20, think again. You can do the math yourself or you can go to a professional advisor, but you need to factor inflation into your savings. Either way, you need to know how much your money will be worth down the line so you know how much money you’ll really need.3. Saving on the fly on an unrealistic budget
Saving is a lifelong commitment. You can’t make it a priority one month and then forget about it for the rest of the year. Guys who win the savings game make it part of their everyday lives. That means keeping an eye on expenses on a monthly basis and putting any surplus you have into your savings. But even more than that, it means discipline. Successful savers don’t tap into their savings unless it’s a real emergency. And if they do, they replace what they “borrow,” including interest.4. Not setting concrete goals
It’s almost impossible to save without concrete goals. The idea is to figure out how much you need and to get there. If you don’t have a goal, you won’t be able to measure success and you won’t be able to chart progress. You may have had a great year, but if you don’t know what you need to contribute to your savings, you won’t know if you can really afford that toy, or if you need to duplicate that great year just to get on track.5. Saving 10% post- rather than pre-tax
Most financial planners tell you to save 10%, but too many guys do so after tax, which means that they really aren’t saving 10% of their income. Like so many things in finance, it’s your gross -- not your net -- that counts. If you only save based on your net income, you’ll take a big drop in quality of life when it comes time to retire.6. Procrastinating
Guys who don’t save give lots of different reasons for their negligence. But they are negligent if they don’t save. No matter how old you are, you need to take control of your money, and saving is a big part of that. So when should you start? Today. Most 25-year-old guys plan to start when they’re 30; most 30 year olds plan on starting when they’re 35. Get the picture? Guys procrastinate, which means they never start. Don’t be that guy.7. Relying on a gimmick
A bank that rounds all your debit card purchases up to the nearest dollar and puts the “change” into a savings account or gives you 1% back isn’t really helping you save. It’s helping itself to your business and allowing you to become complacent about savings. These aren’t plans and they don’t work as such. Yes, they’re nice, and every little bit counts, but you can’t count on a commercial to take care of you in the future.8. Spending too much
It’s hard to say it, but saving doesn’t just mean planning -- it means cutting spending. If you set a goal for a monthly contribution (which you should), you may need to cut expenses to meet it. But even if you don’t need to cut expenses, you should take a look to see if you can. After all, just because you can afford to take cash out of an ATM outside of your network (and absorb the transaction fee), it doesn’t mean you should. While that’s just one example, it’s a $2 to $5 fee that you might be running up several times a month. Think about what that extra money could do in your investment portfolio.9. Not taking advantage of your company’s 401(k)
This is a tax-deferred investment, but strangely, a lot of guys miss it. Some guys even don’t even take advantage of it at companies that match their contributions, which means that they miss the opportunity to literally double their savings. But no matter where you work, you need a retirement savings plan because it allows you to save your money without paying taxes on it until you withdraw it. If your company doesn’t offer a 401(k), talk to your bank.10. Carrying too much credit debt
If you’re putting money aside while carrying a balance on your credit cards, you’re not saving at all. At the end of the day, you’re still losing money. Why? Chances are that the money in your savings account isn’t earning interest in the same league that credit card companies are charging you for carrying a balance. In other words, you might tuck away $1,000 at 5% interest, but a balance of $1,000 on your plastic ticking away at 18% means that you’re in the red. The best thing to do is pay off that balance, and then start saving.save the smart way
Saving isn’t about how much you make, even though a lot of guys say that they’ll save when they make more money. In fact, saving is about attitude more than anything else. Yes, we all like our toys, buying drinks for the guys and treating the ladies to dinner, but if we don’t live and save within our means, we’ll be out on our own with nothing to show for it. Don’t let that happen to you.Resources:
http://www.fool.co.uk/news/Comment/2005/c050218d.htm
http://moneycentral.msn.com/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002714343_pfsaving01.html
0 comments:
Publicar un comentario