Savings & Investments

The Best Time to Start Savings Plan is Now

The saving and investment side of your life has to start sooner or later, the sooner the better. Only then can you get the power of compound interest working on your behalf.

Compound interest is a beauty to behold. It is exciting to see once it kicks in. See for yourself. Go to our savings calculators and enter some numbers in the compound interest calculator.

One of the best ways to pay yourself first is to have money debited automatically from your bank account to a low cost mutual fund company or to a bank.

Almost every mutual fund company and most stock brokers can set up investing plans for you and debit your checking account directly.

First fund tax sheltered plans. Take full advantage of any 401-K plan available, especially if there is an employer contribution. Then move on to IRA's and Keogh's, if you are self employed. Finally don't be afraid to put more money into taxable accounts if you can afford it.

It is quite expensive to support yourself in retirement, put you children through college and meet other expenses that are bound to arise. The more money you can save and invest, the better.

Investing

This website is not about stock tips or how exactly to invest your money. Generally the younger you are the more aggressive you can be in investing, but sometimes simple is best.

For those new to investing, I would suggest an account at Vanguard Mutual Funds. Vanguard is well known for its low costs and it is the pioneer in index investing.

Investing can be as simple as putting whatever you can afford in an S&P 500 Index Mutual Fund and forgetting about it for a while. You’ll be surprised how fast your investment can grow.

Savings

Its always good to have a little diversity in your investment portfolio and one of the best ways to diversify is to hold some money in cash. Some people are afraid of the stock market and are unwilling to invest that way so cash is one of the few alternatives.

Also many financial experts suggest keeping several months salary in cash to cover emergencies or layoffs, which is a fine piece of advice you'll wish you followed at one time or another in your lifetime.

The problem is that right now, interest rates are low. Here is an online bank paying above average interest.

ING DIRECT makes $aving money simple! Open your account online today and start earning variable APY. No Fees and No Minimums!

Seriously consider opening one of these accounts or one like them today.

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