Saving is a good habit. You should always save a portion, whatever you earn.
This is the advice that I have been listening to since my childhood. My parents always followed these principles themselves. Though they did not have enough knowledge to multiply their money but they were able to accomplish a lot beyond their pay by virtue of these savings.
It was natural I was advised repeatedly. I was prompted to save the gifts left by the guests. But I was a different kid. The money and the purchasing power dazzles your mind.
I never listened to them.
Saving?
I would earn substantial and save more later.
Till I was thirty three, I never had more than a month’s salary in the bank. I even used to cringe at the tax saving instruments and preferred to pay taxes so that I could have a bigger portion myself.
Life has various dynamics.It keeps throwing so many things at us and it did throw the stuff at me too.
The first time I got serious about saving was when I wished to become more intelligent at financial matters.
Why?
Because I earned a lot but still had no balance.
More I learned about money management, more I realized about the power of compounding and more I felt about the time that I had not utilized.
When you add money to money, it brings double money.
But when you keep doing that over a period, it results in enormous amount of money, much more than what simple addition could provide.
Sometimes, things hit you hard. It did.
You see, I started earning at the age of 24.
Had I started saving at that age, I would have 10 years of time to help me by compounding.
But I use to take pride in spending.
With my pride hurt [rightly] I accepted and realized my mistake, drew my targets and started working on my saving.
So I advice you to look beyond the present day and plan your life. Because, before you realize the tomorrow that you considered so far would smile face to face at us.
I feel sorry for the missed period of saving. If you are reading this article, it means you are thinking about savings and would like to know the benefit it offers.
Savings has many uses and there is more than one reason you should start saving now.
I cannot know what you wish to have in your life but I can tell you how savings could make your present and futures life better. Once you realize this, you would never want to leave the path of savings
#1 Secure Future
This is the basic and core objective behind all the saving advices. You use it in future.
Let us imagine that you have just retired.
That means you do not have a paycheck coming monthly.
But the costs remain, inflating year by year.
You on an average have 30-40 years of life and the expenses it brings.
The family systems have changed. Do not make your retirement a burden for your next generation.
Therefore, you need to create a big enough corpus, to enable you to live hassle free after your retirement.
Therefore you must save and invest as well.
Start with whatever little you can. Just go through this statement.
If a 30 yrs old invests Rs 10,000 per month for next 30 years, then @12% average return, a total of approx Rs 4.4 crore can be accumulated.
#2 Better Lifestyle
Happiness in life is free. You do not need money to be happy and money alone cannot make you happy. But all materialistic things cost money and money can make your life cushy and comfortable.
Your lifestyle will improve only, if you have enough money.
It is up to you to decide what you want from your life and how you wish to live. But money saved provides you a pillar for better life without making you stuck neck deep into EMIs
#3 Financial Independence
Retirement is not financial independence. Financial independence implies that you are not required to work anymore to live the life you want to.
Financial independence is function of your wealth. It can occur at any age depending on how well you planned it. Often the people are not financially independent till their last breath.
It is a situation where your passive income equals your desired lifestyle expenses.
This needs a step beyond saving. you need to create assets that would work for you. But saving is still the first step.
You should have create enough wealth in the first 10-15 yrs of your earning life that some part of your expenses can be met by passive income your wealth can generate if things go wrong.
#4 Live Stress Free
This is an era of living on credit. From car to house, everything can be available on credit. But living on credit is not a good habit.
I was always advised to stay loan free. Because once you are indebted to someone, the debt dictates your life.
And it brings a lot of stress.
Not having enough money brings a lot of stress with what if thoughts always lurking in the mind.
On the other hand if you have money to fall back upon, you have a peace of mind.
#5 Create Wealth for Next generation
While this is a matter of debate if you should be doing this but it is also true that every parent wants his children to struggle less than him/her.
Having a capital amount at the start of your life does offer you great advantage if you have good money habits.
But if leaving a financial legacy is your aim, you need to save and invest.
I hope I have motivated you enough to start saving. Do not wait for next month. Pledge to do it today. Be disciplined and you would see the results over a period.
Do you save? How long you have been saving? Do share your views/ experiences in the comments below.
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