If you are confused about how to plan your saving, here’s a saving planning guide for your future that could help you implement a practical, smart, and effective money management plan:
Save, and then Some More
Once you start thinking about how to plan your saving, begin by setting aside a small chunk of your monthly income to go into a savings fund, ideally in a savings bank account.
An alternative is to invest a larger sum in fixed deposits (FD). This fetches higher returns, however, the money stays locked in through the FD’s opted tenure. Since the money stays locked in, FDs are a good way to save without the temptation to use the money.
If you are willing to take some risk, explore investing towards systematic investment plan options (SIPs), where monthly investments are made in debt and/or equity products, as per your preferences. Yet another saving option is mutual funds, consider it when you ponder upon how to plan your saving – a good long-term investment option particularly in Indian financial markets.
Depending on your risk appetite, money instruments and gold could also be good investment options, consider them when you think about how to plan your saving. Avoid investing too much in anything that depreciates (luxury cars, DSLR) - unless this will fetch you higher returns than it costs over a period of time.
Review your investments periodically against the saving planning guide for your future and figure out ways to multiply current returns. If income increases, so should investments. Move on to better investment plans if need be. This will help you reach your financial goals and build a substantial corpus sooner.
Get Insured
Our savings help us support a certain lifestyle for ourselves and our families. Parents, spouse, children, and all our other dependents need to stay financially secure in our absence. This is where insurance steps in. It is important to calculate what a substantial amount would be to fulfill all financial requirements in your absence and then purchase an insurance plan accordingly.
Guidance from insurance experts can help you purchase insurance wisely in accordance with your needs and budget. You only need to know how to direct your savings towards paying the policy’s premium regularly. The sooner in life you get insured, the better it is – you get a good insurance plan with higher coverage and lower premiums.
Check your insurance regularly and see if you need additional insurance. Invest time in these important financial reviews and you can rest assured that the financial returns will witness phenomenal improvement with time.
Plan Tax-Saving Early
Increase in income means increase in tax liability. Plan your tax saving investments at the beginning of the financial year and spread your tax-saving investments throughout the year. This will ensure you are not burdened towards the end of the financial year. Invest early - investing surplus money towards the year end means you lose out on substantial returns.
Crush the Credit
Unproductive borrowing like credit card or personal loans carry high interest burden and do not offer any tax benefits. It makes sense to not take them at all (unless you are sure you can manage repayment comfortably), and if you do, clear them off at the earliest with your surplus savings. You may have lesser money to spend, but you will end up saving a lot that would otherwise be spent on interest cost.
Repayments and credit history also impact your CIBIL score – organisations base their lending decisions to a large extent on the borrower’s CIBIL score, so it is better to work towards maintaining a good score.
Keep a Watch
When you receive your pay, clear outstanding payments and factor out payments you have to make later. It is a good idea to automate monthly bill payments and investments to go straight out of your bank account. This will save the trouble of remembering payment due dates, and will also give an idea of how much money you have at your disposal each month for your daily expenses, savings, and emergencies.
Budget ‘Wise’
A fundamental way to manage your money/savings is to record income and expenses and draw a budget for savings, investments, big purchases, emergencies, recreation, etc. Keeping an account of recurrent expenses like utilities, food, rent, maintenance, bills, taxes, debts, EMIs, etc. will help you evaluate your expenses and stay within your financial limit.
Having a budget and tracking everything through a saving planning guide for your future is the first step towards intelligent money management. Use spreadsheets or mobile apps to monitor income and expenditure. Against time and income, list each financial goal and expense. This will help you stay on a smart financial path with a futuristic vision.
Weed Out Wasteful Expenditure
Avoid wasteful expenditure and impulse buying on non-essential items, as it leads to unnecessary spending and lesser savings at the end of the month for essential expenses. Earmark a small amount of your monthly income towards impulse purchases/shopping, so you can enjoy your savings while also have enough for important things.
Identify habits like spending regularly on seemingly small expenses, overindulgence in luxury spends, etc. and rectify the situation by weeding these habits out. Documenting the same can help you ‘see’ yourself improving on the financial front.
Plan for Retirement
Start making financial provisions at the earliest towards your retirement planning. It makes sense to create assets that are sure to generate substantial revenue regularly, such as renting out a shop or house. Another option is to decide on a lump sum target amount that can fetch sizable interest, and then make provisions to start contributing to that fund.
Plan Simultaneously
Some important reasons we save are retirement, child’s education/marriage, taking care of family members, and having money for unforeseen exigencies. Ensure you save for all these reasons simultaneously. If you only save for your children and do not use your surplus savings towards a comfortable retired life, you are inviting future financial problems. Careful and futuristic financial planning can help you direct savings towards all important reasons without any compromises. The key is to begin investing and saving as early as possible, thereby capitalizing on the power of compounding.
Concluding
Learn from experiences, invest some time reading about finance, speaking with financial experts and saving planning guide for your future. Continually review your financial situation and allocate extra savings towards areas where you need to contribute more, this will help you direct your savings wisely and improve your overall financial health. Managing your savings will empower you, and now is the perfect time, if you haven’t started yet.