What are good strategies and tools for saving for big life events like marriage, home ownership, and retirement?

Saving

There are many ways you can save, such as saving an income tax refund check. You can save the income tax refund or a percentage and use that toward a big life event. Try to find a job that pays well to have an expendable income and live in a part of the country that is affordable. These tricks can help you save more easily for big life events.

There are a lot of free financial management classes; get a plan and go talk to them. It’s about making a habit out of saving money. If you have money left over, add that as additional savings. Having a plan and being prepared for things you want in life is very helpful when managing your money. You should stick to the plan as best you can, but realize there will be bumps in the road; live conservatively and be frugal! There are two books that can help you learn how to save money and to create a plan; The Millionaire Next Door and The New Frugality. You shouldn’t go over the budget for big life events; stick with your budget so you don't financially hurt yourself in the long run.

Start saving as soon as possible. Research what your job provides for you and take advantage of whatever that may be. You should try to invest your money more than just saving it. If you save money in your bank account for a long-term, compound interest is your best friend. Just start by putting aside any amount of money that is comfortable to you in your long-term account as soon as possible. After a long-term of saving money and putting them in your account. The saving amount can be useful to use on big events. If you take the money straight from your paycheck, by using direct deposit, you won’t notice it.

Home

Save 20% of the down payment and figure out 20% of that cost. If less than 20%, you should take out a secondary loan because it costs more to take out other insurances. Autoedit websites are good tools to use.

Marriage

Put together a budget for a wedding dress, the tux, and other necessities for your wedding day. You should ask your and your fiancé’s parents if they are going to help pay the wedding. After asking the parents, see how much more you need. Your wedding is mostly about being creative with budgeting.

Retirement

Most companies have some sort of retirement fund. Always enroll into your company's 401k. Make sure to enroll because you keep that money! Get as much money out of your employer's pocket as you can to put into a retirement account. Allocate as much as you can into that buy back of the company’s stock you work for (unless they aren’t doing too good). Start a retirement account and/or investing account as soon as possible. This could be a 401K, IRA, or savings account. Roth IRA’s are long-term accounts (about 50 years) that you can contribute to and cash in. You don’t need to contribute a great amount. If you open a Roth IRA (you can do it at any bank) with $1,000, then contribute $50 a month ($600 a year) to the account. The account could worth $75,000-$100,000 when you cash it in 50 years down the line. The more you add to the account, the larger that number becomes. You pay taxes on the initial investment and the contributions – you do not pay tax on the final dollar amount when you cash it in.

This page was developed from interviews with:

Melissa Lewis, Isaac Davies, Teresa Ellison, Barry O'Brien, Julia Gordon, Paula Hershal, Sebastian Percy, Odette James, Bret Mailer, Bonnie Bellow