Pay Yourself First

Hey everyone,

We all know that putting money aside to invest for the future is important, but many of us have a hard time going out of our way every month to actually call our financial institutions and go through this process. The internet has made things slightly easier, now we can move money to various investment accounts with the click of a button. Still, even with the very best of intentions, many of us are neglecting what should really be a monthly habit.

Have you heard of the concept 'Pay Yourself First'? If we take a look at things from an employee perspective, a full work day typically consists of eight hours. Imagine, if you will, taking the wage equivalent of one of those eight hours and investing it for the future? This concept basically means that you set up a pre-authorized withdrawl for a month's worth of those accumulated wages and, on a date of your choosing, your financial institution, broker, or investment company will move them to your investment account of choice.

while this concept seems simple in nature, many people do not practice it, always saying, "I'll just save a whole bunch of money and contribute a lump sum later sometime." The problem with this is that your money does not earn inerest while that 'lump sum' is accumulating and also, unfortunately, you can not retire on good intenstion alone.

Most people would agree that setting aside one hour's worth of their work day's wage is manageable, but over fifteen years that one hour a day can turn into a significant benefit for you to supplement your retirment income. With people living longer and longer these days it is imperative that we do what we can to make our retirement funds last as long as possible. So remember, pay yourself first!