{"id":2040,"date":"2018-07-20T03:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T08:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kerryaclark.com\/blog\/?p=2040"},"modified":"2018-08-01T15:20:40","modified_gmt":"2018-08-01T20:20:40","slug":"saving-here-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/saving-here-and-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving For The Here And Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Art of An Investment Plan – Part 4<\/span><\/h2>\n

How can we save money for the here and now?<\/span><\/p>\n

We had one goal and that was to establish savings outside of a 401K retirement plan and life insurance. You see, you can\u2019t use either of these easily if you need money in hand right now. In fact life insurance will never be yours as long as you\u2019re alive. \u00a0So what then can I do, we do, for short-term (here & now) savings?<\/span><\/p>\n

Always start with what you often hear me say, create a plan. \u00a0You need \u201ca why\u201d behind \u201cwhat\u201d you wish to achieve. Here are 6 of our \u201cwhy\u2019s\u201d and \u201cthe what\u2019s\u201d that go along with them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why #1: We wanted to see if money would double in 10 years.<\/b>
\nShortly after college, I decided to put this money doubling principle to the test. \u00a0I put <\/span>$500<\/span><\/a> into an IRA. \u00a0\u00a0I thought that my money doubling over several years meant the money would go from 500 to like $50,000. \u00a0I didn\u2019t think of it as 500 going to 1000. After 10 years the money did double, but it\u2019s far smaller than what I anticipated, $1000 or so. \u00a0Nonetheless, \u201cthe why\u201d that drove this short-term savings was to <\/span>see if the money would double<\/span><\/a> and gave me the drive to accomplish this savings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Why #2: We figured doing it our way wasn\u2019t working so we decided to do it <\/b>Dave Ramsey\u2019s way<\/b><\/a>. <\/b>\u00a0At some point, a person can get tired of not having the results they know can be possible. \u00a0After numerous failed attempts to rid ourselves of debt our way, we decided to give Dave Ramsey\u2019s 7 steps a try. \u00a0The 1st was to get a <\/span>$1000 emergency fund<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0Not for any other reason, but to put Dave Ramsey to the test, we saved this $1000. I hate to say it but Dave\u2019s step one has a way of energizing and giving you the confidence to continue with your plan to rid yourself of debt. \u00a0It was\/is a game-changer. Doing this helped us keep an emergency fund locked in our personal safe for those rainy-day events.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why #3: We needed a way to make small purchases that took more than a single paycheck to pay for and not blow the money. \u00a0<\/b>Pamela and I discovered the Simple Card by accident. \u00a0It came to us by way of the <\/span>Google Wallet card<\/span><\/a> being discontinued. \u00a0At any rate, the Simple Card not only replaced <\/span>our Google Wallet<\/span><\/a>, but gave us some additional features we take advantage of. \u00a0It allows you to set goals that take a little bit (from your safe-to-spend account) over a set amount of time and it moves it over to your goal(s) for saving. \u00a0Once the targeted amount is reached, you can then make the purchase. This card has become our favorite due to this single feature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why #4: Our daughter is eleven and we\u2019d like to purchase a car for her when she\u2019s sixteen. \u00a0<\/b>This goal is a little tougher to manage for a couple reasons: 1) it\u2019s a large amount and 2) it\u2019s several years away. \u00a0Our plan includes not only saving for it, but putting our finances in the position to do so. Putting off the planning is what all normal people do, so we\u2019ve decided to plan now, ahead of time. \u00a0This goals helps us weigh other purchases that require years to achieve. We use <\/span>our Simple card<\/span><\/a> and our long term planning initiatives to get us ready for this purchase. \u00a0The main purpose of this goal is not to get caught unprepared or underprepared. \u00a0Each year, we get to add to, update, and make \u201cfamily plan\u201d changes to accommodate this \u201cwhy #4\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why #5: We want to be able to place our hands on a couple hundred dollars in the event we\u2019d like to make a spontaneous purchase.<\/b> \u00a0Have you ever wished you had a little cash on you and not just 20 bucks? \u00a0That was me. I wanted to, like my dad, have a couple hundred dollars on hand. \u00a0So here\u2019s what we did. We started sending small checks to me from the bank. On <\/span>payday<\/span><\/a>, I\u2019ll send myself a check for a small amount, cash it, and put it away. \u00a0It gave me something to look forward to and helped me begin a better banking relationship and of course meet our goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why #6: We wanted to be able to give when we felt lead or inspired to give to anyone at anytime. \u00a0<\/b>Giving as you can imagine is a big deal for us. \u00a0I\u2019m not a giver by nature, but Pamela is. So we needed a way to help me become a better giver and satisfy her need to give. \u00a0This gave us the crazy idea of having <\/span>an account as well as card<\/span><\/a> that does nothing but give. \u00a0We use it for giving only. On each payday, we place a certain amount on <\/span>the card<\/span><\/a> and forget about it. \u00a0It also helps us to monitor and achieve our year-end giving goals as outlined in <\/span>our family plan<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

You need a \u201cwhy\u201d or set of \u201cwhy\u2019s.\u201d \u00a0These \u201cwhy\u2019s\u201d will inspire you and keep you motivated to achieve your savings goals as opposed to wasting funds and spending on things that really do not matter as much as the listed \u201cwhy\u2019s.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Today is Friday!<\/span>
\n<\/span>Building your short-term savings plan based on a list of \u201cwhy\u2019s\u201d is critical. \u00a0Why would you like to save the money? Is this \u201cwhy\u201d compelling enough for you to do it? \u00a0Saving all boils down to \u201cthe why\u201d. We have this saying and it\u2019s true…people do what people \u201cwant to\u201d do. \u00a0Don\u2019t save for savings sake, put a \u201cwhy\u201d behind it to ignite your \u201cwant to\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Family Plan Binder<\/a>\"\"<\/a> is available now!

<\/p>\nOur team has worked very hard putting it together. We designed it to help you and your family move the needle forward in making your life your business. \nFind out more about the Family plan here.<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Art of An Investment Plan – Part 4 How can we save money for the here and now? We had one goal and that was to establish savings outside of a 401K retirement plan and life insurance. You see, you can\u2019t use either of these easily if you need money in hand right now. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,57],"tags":[61],"class_list":{"0":"post-2040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-accounting","8":"category-investment-plan","9":"tag-simple-card","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/20180720-TIF-Blog-Saving-for-The-Here-and-Now.png?fit=760%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4jb7V-wU","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2040"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2049,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040\/revisions\/2049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}