Saving money for your future doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the present and stop doing the things you love, like traveling! When saving into taxable investments and retirement accounts, we are often thinking about our future. Having money for retirement, when we probably will not have a steady or strong inflow of cash, is great thinking. However, saving for our future doesn’t have to mean we are sacrificing our lives in the present. We can find balance in our spending to live the life we want now AND save for our future self. Check out our blog post about finding balance in your spending.

It’s true…it is easier said, than done. A great way to do this is to create goals and make an actionable plan to reach them. For example, let’s say you want to save for a trip to Italy in 2024:

• First, figure out how much money you will need and divide it by the number of months left for the trip. This number will be your monthly savings goal.
• Then, create a separate checking or savings account for this goal and see your progress each month as the money in the account increases. Seeing progress is motivating and helps with sticking to your plan.
• If you are struggling to save, try automatic contributions into that account, so you don’t even have to think about it.

When creating these goals, think about what is important to you. What do you want to achieve? What will help get you there? Do you want to save for your kids’ college, donate to a charitable foundation, or own a home? You can do it by focusing on your goals and being consistent with saving!

Katerina Logrono is a Paraplanner at Willow Planning Group, LLC. She is primarily responsible for supporting you in reaching your personal financial goals. Katerina loves exploring new places while helping you live your adventure too