Saving for a Sunnier Day

I preach to the choir about saving until the choir finds out I'm right when they need a sudden infusion of cash but no resources. That would be my boys and anyone else who has failed to save anything in their lives. I'm not getting into the quantitative analysis of what to save, how to save and where to save now but I am going to promote saving in some form.

To save your money is important to your financial well-being either for use now or somewhere down the road. Most importantly it is the first step toward realizing your financial dreams. It's been said and even I have said it, "I can't afford to save anything" but I'm here to tell you that you can't afford not to. And you don't just save for the sake of savings but you save to make your money grow.

I'm speaking of generalities and well known facts here. The baby boomers, we are told, are the largest segment of our society and getting older. Hello! Me included. What do we have to show for it? Some not so much. We got busy with families and all the things that come with raising a family and doing what we wanted when we wanted without thought given to retirement.
That's not passing on a very healthy attitude to our youngsters. We started the material marketplace and its going strong today. All the tangible things we've got to have right now devour anything left over that we could use to make more money for us when we really need it later on.

If you could just find a way to squirrel away about 10% of each paycheck you would be surprised at how fast that adds up. Where to start a savings account? Look for the highest yeild. Nowdays that yield is pretty low. Banks typically are not the most ideal places to save your money. Their interest rates are very low and they often require a minumum to start a savings account or they don't want to be bothered. Credit Unions are a little better but there are individual companies that have some of the highest rates. One very secure online bank that carries the highest savings rate is ING Direct at 4.2% It fluctuates but has been one of the highest interest rates around and is FDIC insured. Banks are as low at 1.5% AND to get a better rate banks want a minimum balance in your account. For those just starting an account ING Direct lets you start with what you want , no minimums.



After you have saved around $1000.00 in your savings account you might take that money and put it in other items that are even better at making your money grow. Things like money market funds, stocks and CD's (Certificates of Deposit) which all yield higher paybacks yet. But the bottom line is that you have to start somewhere and accumulate what you need to move to the next step. As you grow your money, someone will always want to take it and help you spend it. Stay strong and think very hard how you want to save on your own terms in your own way in your own time but SAVE!