Drive to save for the future

How to lead a healthy future

10:50 23 August 2013

Some wise geek said, “The art is not in making money, but in keeping it.”  But keeping our savings in a piggy bank or somewhere we believe is a safe place, unattended will not amount to much in the future.

It would be safe to say that everyone’s introduction to the world of finances would have to decide what to do with whatever money you have with you right now. Even as a child the decision we make in regard to our finances could be life changing. You can spend whatever money you have right that moment on some petty shiny trinket which is all your money can afford or keep it somewhere safe (save) until you can have enough to acquire something of more value.

As “responsible” adults the child in us sometimes still gets the better of us, making us spend all our money recklessly. But we will not be forever young, healthy, and productive and having nothing saved for the future is a sad and frightening thought.

At this day and age saving can be both hard and easy. Hard because temptation to acquire so many things to “keep up with the Joneses” beckons you to buy buy, and buy and this become an eternal deterrent to our resolve to save. Easy because there are so many ways to make your savings work for you and reach its full potential.

Oftentimes, you can save just by not having any debt. Interest on loans or even credit cards can eat up a lot of our hard-earned money because by and large, the interest charges on expensive debts like credit cards will be far greater than any interest your savings can earn. If you are paying a mortgage, endeavour to pay more than what is the monthly due. Cleaning up your interest-bearing debts is the first step to saving.

Your two keywords to saving are ‘will’ and ‘discipline’.