Automated Savings
Save and Invest Without Even Thinking About It
Automate your retirement planning and wealth-building approach with these tips.
Build your emergency fund with automatic transfers. Most banks or credit unions can arrange daily, weekly, or per-paycheck transfers of money from a checking account into a savings account or split your incoming paycheck into percentages going to both accounts.
Try some apps. Apps like Qapital subtly direct spare change from debit and credit card purchases into your savings account.
Arrange per-paycheck salary deferrals. Pay yourself first. Direct 10% or more of your earnings into your retirement plan if you can—your future self will thank you. If you receive one, augment it with a tax refund or a bonus.
Ask your employer about an auto-escalation retirement plan. Your company’s plan may already offer this feature, which gradually increases your degree of retirement contribution over time, often by 1% a year.
Millennials are good savers. As a Harris Poll found, millennial parents have a median retirement savings rate of 10% of their incomes, better than parents who are Gen Xers (8%) and baby boomers (5%).