Saving money can be hard. Making your saving automatic takes the work out of it. Here are our basic A

What is Automatic Saving?

Automatic Saving makes the practice of “paying yourself first” incredibly easy. Start using your employer’s Direct Deposit to its full potential. Not only can you have your pay sent straight to your bank account (no checks needed), you can also have your money split into several different accounts. The money you need for bills and expenses goes to checking, and the amount or percentage you want to save toward your goal goes into a separate account set up for that purpose. This way, you never get the chance to accidentally spend that money. Saving becomes much easier!

Why Use It?

• Money that sits in your checking account is easy to spend.
• If all of your money is pooled in your checking or regular savings account it’s hard to see how much you’ve saved toward specific goals.
• Maybe there are a few people who enjoy transferring funds to their savings accounts manually every month, but for the rest of us, automatic saving is a no-brainer.

How to Save Automatically

1. Figure out how much money needs to go to which account. A budget helps with this, as do savings goals. Most forms will ask for a percentage or amount of paycheck to send to each account.
2. Get a Direct Deposit Form from Human Resources. These should be quick and easy to grab, or may be available online.
3.  Designate amounts for each account. Most forms will let you split your pay into 2-5 accounts. Have the account and routing numbers ready, and know what percent or amount of each check you want going to each account.
4. Ask for help if you need it. Your Sierra Pacific Financial Service Reps are more than happy to help you figure out how much you can or should put toward certain goals, what goals you should focus on, and how to go through this whole process.

Which Accounts to Use

There are plenty of good accounts you can use to organize and automate your savings. The best ones depend on your situation and your goals. Here are some accounts we offer that might help:

• Money Market– Good for emergency funds, big goals, or long-term, low-risk savings. You’ll get a higher dividend than regular savings accounts once you reach a certain account balance.
• Club Accounts– If you’re saving for a vacation or trip, you might want to try our Vacation Club. These accounts offer higher dividends than Regular Share Savings and let you put money aside for a specific goal. There’s a similar account to help save for holiday expenses (Christmas Club), which collects your deposits all year and only lets you withdraw them after November 1st. If you have a hard time keeping your paws off the savings, this might be a good option.
• Auxiliary Accounts- Set up separate savings accounts for your wedding, your future house, your new car, etc. These accounts let you see your progress toward each goal separately in online banking.
• Individual Retirement Accounts– If you want a simple way to save toward retirement, we have several IRA’s available. You should chat with an FSR to see what your best option is.
• Share Certificates (CD’s)- If you won’t need your savings for a while, you might think about investing in CD’s. Your money can earn high interest rates if you can afford not to touch it for a certain amount of time.

 

Whether or not you choose to use the above accounts, you should absolutely set up automatic deposits toward your saving goal. Feel free to stop by or call chat about your goals.