If your car broke down or you had an unexpected trip to the hospital, would you be able to cover the costs? If you don’t have savings, you could wind up borrowing money at high interest rates, which means you’ll owe even more in the long run. You could end up with credit card debt or loans you cannot easily repay.
It can be difficult to put your money away for an emergency. It can be especially tough if you find yourself living paycheck to paycheck. Our resources offer tips that can help you save for your future. Keep reading below for links to resources on savings plans, planning your bills, automatic deposits, tax time tips, teaching your kids to save, and our retirement calculator.
Plans for savings
If you really want to grow your savings, you should make a plan to save. These tools can help.
- Worksheet: Set up your own savings “rule”
- Worksheet: Evaluate your savings and create a savings plan
- Toolkit: Make a plan to pay your bills and save for the future
- Quiz: Savings is a big part of people’s financial well-being. Take our financial well-being quiz and see how you compare to others in similar situations.
Automatic savings
One of the easiest ways to help you save is to set up an automatic deposit from your paycheck to your savings account.
Here are two ways to do that:
- Have your bank or credit union automatically move money from your checking account to your savings account or investment account on a regular basis, like a day or two after your expected paycheck.
- Ask your employer if you can split your paycheck between a checking and savings account so a part of your pay gets automatically saved each pay period. Learn more about direct deposits.
Tax time savings
If you receive a tax refund, use it to kick-start your savings habit.
Teach your kids to save
Set your kids up financially by teaching them about money and savings.
- Interactive tool: Help your kids learn how to save at different ages
- Blog: How to kick start your child’s savings habits
- Blog: Why you should open a savings account for your kids
Save for retirement
Once you’ve built up your savings habit, here are some ways to start making a plan for retirement.
- Interactive tool: Decide when to claim social security
- Learn more: Tips to help keep your retirement on track
By Courtney-Rose Dantus and Erica Kritt