Join us in saving!
America Saves Week February 25 – March 2, 2013 is a chance for families and individuals to assess their own saving status and take financial action. According to one study, if family incomes are the same, those families with a plan save about twice as much as those who do not have one.
America Saves has provided some easy ways to review your savings this week and PIE will also be sharing saving tips on Twitter and Facebook.
1. Make a Plan
Find out if you are saving in all the right places with this 12 step savings assessment.
Take this savings quiz to reveal how much you understand about the realities of savings in America.
2. Set a Goal
You might consider the following strategy for your tax refund:
Use 30-40-30 plan to pay for your past, present, and future.
Past: Designate 30% of your refund to paying off debt and catching up on outstanding bills.
Present: Earmark 40% for current use.
Future: Use 30% to jump start an emergency fund or longer term savings.
- Save for Emergencies
How to do it: Save a Portion of Your tax refund in a savings account specifically for emergencies.
- Pay Off High-Interest Debt
How to do it: Find places to cut your spending so that you can pay down your debts faster.
Find places to trim your expenses.
- Save for Retirement
How to do it: Participate in a work-related retirement program or open up a Roth IRA. Already saving? Increase the amount you save toward retirement by 1% in 2013.
You may be interested in reviewing this information:
Download Social Security A Snapshot Download When to start receiving benefits SSA
- Save for a Large Purchase
Also, you might find these resources helpful:
- Download Consumer_Action_Handbook_2012 The Consumer Action Handbook, provided by the Federal Citizen Information Center, provides tips on making wise purchase decisions.
- Download Smart Saving for College FINRA The Smart Saving for College publication by FINRA, Financial Industry Regulatory Agency, is a guide to saving options for college and ways to finance higher education.
3. Save Automatically
Saving isn’t easy, but here are some actions that you can take to make it easier.
- It can be hard to put aside money for savings. But there is an easy way to save money without ever missing it – Make your savings automatic in 2013.
- Take the America Saves Pledge Those with a savings plan are twice as likely to save for emergencies and retirement than those without a plan. Join over 310,000 people who have already committed to save. Pledge or re-pledge today!
- Share your savings goal People save more successfully when they have a goal in mind. That’s why we’ve created posters so you can put your savings goal into perspective and share it.
America Saves Week is coordinated by America Saves and the American Savings Education Council. Started in 2007, the Week is an annual opportunity for organizations to promote good savings behavior and a chance for individuals to assess their own saving status.
Content provided by America Saves Communication Manager, Katie Bryan.
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