As in, what priorities do you have for savings. For your retirement, for a nest egg, emergency fund, fund for your children.

Do you use an IRA, 401K, mutual funds, savings accounts.

Just general info. on your plan and what you have found to work.

I'm trying to prioritize and re-do our budget :-)

TIA!

We just had a meeting with our financial planner this week.

We have a Roth IRA for each of us, dh will have retirement, we are investing in mutual funds.

We also are building a savings account, which will be for larger purchases, emergencies, etc. our goal is to build it to $2K - $2500 and keep it right around that. Our mutual funds are for long term saving - 15-25 years.

Is this what you are looking for?

Dh has been putting money into a 401K for 4 years now. The first 3 year it was 15%, then last year, he said he was able to 20%, so he did. We could use the cash now, but I guess it will be worth it in the long run. Ah, we started saving when we were 25, if that matters.

Originally posted by 3boysnagrl
We just had a meeting with our financial planner this week.

We have a Roth IRA for each of us, dh will have retirement, we are investing in mutual funds.

We also are building a savings account, which will be for larger purchases, emergencies, etc. our goal is to build it to $2K - $2500 and keep it right around that. Our mutual funds are for long term saving - 15-25 years.

Is this what you are looking for?

Yes, Heather. That is what I was looking for. Thanks. I am trying to figure out what additional savings vehicles we need to use.

Do you find the financial planner to be worthwhile?

I find my financial planner to be a MUST! We've been working with him for about a year and a half, and he made sure we were in a position to invest/save before we jumped in. He worked on a doable budget with us, helped us stick to it for a few months, and then we started investin/saving. DH gets a raise this in March (a big one! yee haw!) so we met with him to set up allotments, get our life insturance for me, life insurance for the kids, and the Roth IRAs. He also made sure we were increasing our standard of living... which will be really nice. And we are paying down on our debt, which is getting lower and lower every time we meet.

I consider him an essential part of our financial planning.

We get dh's paychecks deposited directly into our checking account. I put $100 of it every payday (26 of them per year) into savings. That money gets used for vacations and emergencies...like my new brakes a few months back.

We also have a financial planner, but to be honest, we don't call him as often as we should.

Thank you both!

We have 401K at my dh's employer, an emergency nest egg, and some savings. I need to get working on an IRA. I read a bunch of investment sites and books but always wonder what people actually do IRL :-)

We reworked things around here about six months ago and it has been the best thing we did. I can't remember the name of the book we used but it is what finally worked for us.

We already had excellent retirement. (dh is a school principal and retirement is great). We own little stocks.....just a small amount that I had before we married. Have another smaller retirement account that we put money into when he was at his other job. (did this for five years, so it will help when retirement comes around)

Savings is a big thing for us. Right now we only have $1,500 in it but when our tax retun comes, we will put 5K more into our savings account and then continue our small monthly deposits. We are not depositing what we use to in savings because we are hitting our remaining debt really really hard right now. (we are only saving $100 a month)

The Freedom Account was the biggest change for us. It is a separate checking account. It covers all those expenses that seem to "pop up" in life that we all usually scramble to pay for. That has made is breathe easier and we no longer scramble to pay. For example, If the car breaks down, the money is already there.

We also electronic deposit my dh's paycheck. Then a set amount is automatically transfered to savings and also to the freedom account every month.

When I start sub teaching again (in two years!), all my pay will go into savings and debt repayment.

Having any debt drives us mad so we are really hitting that and use a roll-down method for repaying that and it has been amazing! We cancelled all credit cards except for one. We'll pay off my student loan in August (woo hoo!) thanks to the roll-down method. We don't owe tons of debt but the two student loans and the one credit card do bother me.

I guess that is all we are doing.

Thanks for starting this thread! I'm learning lots from the responses!!!

Michelle

savings? what's that?!

hmmmm. monthly savings is useless for us, as there's always SOMETHING that comes up unexpectedly.

for long term savings, we have dh's tsp (thrift savings plan) through the military. i'm just learning about iras now, and hope to have one for myself by spring (better hurry, it's a comin'!).

hey-ds has a piggy bank, does that count? lol

Here are our priorities (in order)

401K (no brainer as it is through dh's work)
Monthly savings (trying to reach 3-6 mths salary--will be there by the last 1/2 of this year)
Life insurance - term (done)
Money for kids college (or whatever) - Soren and Airon done. We'll start Spencers's by June.
Roth IRA-Mine will start this quarter. Dh's has one, but we will start monthly contributions by next month.
Mutual funds (will do if there is ever leftover money. There should be by next year.)

I'm pretty happy with our priorities. If I had it to start over, I would have done the Roth IRAs and Mutual funds first before the kids savings.

Clark Howard is my guru. :) http://www.clarkhoward.com

Since my DH's work matches his 401K contribution (up to a certain %) we do that. It's to our advantage to at least put in as much as they will match.

We also contribute to the 529 college plan. It's automatically deducted from our bank account so we can't flake and decide not send money "this month". ;) We set this up when my son was a few months old.

We also have a set amount coming out of our bank account going into a "super saver CD" to save up for a camper. We've been saving for 2 years and next year we'll have the money to buy one.

We invest any extra with an Investor. Most of it is mutual funds.

I'm a BIG saver. I can squirrel away pennies and watch it grow. I love to work towards a goal rather than waste money here and there on crap we don't really need.

Having an emergency savings is a must. So we build that up and keep it up.

Originally posted by Stacinator
Here are our priorities (in order)

401K (no brainer as it is through dh's work)
Monthly savings (trying to reach 3-6 mths salary--will be there by the last 1/2 of this year)
Life insurance - term (done)
Money for kids college (or whatever) - Soren and Airon done. We'll start Spencers's by June.
Roth IRA-Mine will start this quarter. Dh's has one, but we will start monthly contributions by next month.
Mutual funds (will do if there is ever leftover money. There should be by next year.)

I'm pretty happy with our priorities. If I had it to start over, I would have done the Roth IRAs and Mutual funds first before the kids savings.

Clark Howard is my guru. :) http://www.clarkhoward.com

Oh yes, I forgot to mention life insurance!!! This is soooo important.

Our "plan" for college is to use my salary to pay for it. (I'll be teaching again by the time our oldest starts college) One thing we have always done is to live off of my dh's salary ONLY. We've seen too many folks use both salaries and then get in a situation where one of them wants to be a at-home parent and their mortgage and new vehicles keeps them from doing this. Actually my dh's kindergarten teacher is in this situation. She is expecting her first baby in September and wants to stop teaching to be home full-time but she and her husband could not manage w/out her salary....because of a larger-than-needed mortgage, expensive car loans and lifestyle. I feel so bad for them.

That is the number one counsel I'll give to all our children (boys and girls alike)....if they choose to get married, they need to live off of one spouses salary and save the other spouses (or use to pay off any debt from college etc..). That way, if they choose to ever had a child, they will have all options open to them, KWIM?

Anyway, sorry for going on about this. I really feel strongly about this.

Hugs,
Michelle

Originally posted by Stacinator
Here are our priorities (in order)

Money for kids college (or whatever) - Soren and Airon done. We'll start Spencers's by June.


I'm pretty happy with our priorities. If I had it to start over, I would have done the Roth IRAs and Mutual funds first before the kids savings.

Clark Howard is my guru. :) http://www.clarkhoward.com

How did you personally do savings for your childrens college? I mentioned we are planning to use my salary (I'll start teaching again in two years....our oldest will be 16 yrs old then and we'll save all my income).....but I'd like to start another savings on top of that, beyond the series EE savings bonds that we've been purchasing since they were born.

Oh, and if our children don't get scholarships to a 4-year college, they will do their first two years of general ed's here at our local community college and live at home and then transfer for the remainder to a University. (hoping one of them chooses the University my dh and I graduated from to take advantage of lower tuition for choosing the same college)

Thanks for sharing what you do. :)

Michelle

Originally posted by Gracie


We also have a set amount coming out of our bank account going into a "super saver CD" to save up for a camper. We've been saving for 2 years and next year we'll have the money to buy one.


Sorry mamas for asking so many questions here! *lol*

What is this? A camper/RV is a dream of ours. Please share what this "super saver CD" is.....did you go to your local bank? How much do you put into it a month? How much interest do you earn?

This really perked my ears up.....I mean, I will look at RV's at local dealerships and just DROOL!!!! My dh has a month off every July and for our large family, having RV would be the way for us to take vacations within our budget.

Hugs,
Michelle

Originally posted by Momof6
Sorry mamas for asking so many questions here! *lol*

What is this? A camper/RV is a dream of ours. Please share what this "super saver CD" is.....did you go to your local bank? How much do you put into it a month? How much interest do you earn?

This really perked my ears up.....I mean, I will look at RV's at local dealerships and just DROOL!!!! My dh has a month off every July and for our large family, having RV would be the way for us to take vacations within our budget.

Hugs,
Michelle

We are just wanting a travel camper that we pull behind our truck. We put in $75 a month. I've never heard of a Super Saver CD until my bank mentioned it to me. It's just something we contribute to every month and the interest rate changes every year. We have the option of cashing out every 12 months. It earns more than our bank accounts, but not by a whole bunch. I do think we had a little that we started the CD with.

Here is a link to the Super Saver CD.
http://www.wachovia.com/personal/page/0,,11_481_524_2285,00.html

We've always wanted to start camping and figured that we could save up the money to buy one by the time the children were old enough to truely appreciate camping.

Thank you! I like that idea beause of the interest and the fact that you can't cash out on a whim, KWIM?

I was going to set up a freedom account sub-account for this (which is where I'd usually save for this) , but I like the sounds of the CD.

I will call our banker this week and check into starting one of these.

With us driving older vehicles, this would also be a great way to start saving NOW for when we need to replace my dh's car without having to get a loan.

Thanks for this info!! I have learned something new and will be looking into starting one of these.

I hope I can add to it whenever (on top of the monthly amount)....like when a rebate check arrives in the mail etc....that would help push up the CD amount.

Thanks again!
Michelle

Originally posted by Gracie
We are just wanting a travel camper that we pull behind our truck. We put in $75 a month. I've never heard of a Super Saver CD until my bank mentioned it to me. It's just something we contribute to every month and the interest rate changes every year. We have the option of cashing out every 12 months. It earns more than our bank accounts, but not by a whole bunch. I do think we had a little that we started the CD with.

Here is a link to the Super Saver CD.
http://www.wachovia.com/personal/page/0,,11_481_524_2285,00.html

We've always wanted to start camping and figured that we could save up the money to buy one by the time the children were old enough to truely appreciate camping.

You know, we are trying SO hard to get to start saving consistently. What sucks is that right now our expenses require MOST of DH's salary and doesn't leave much room to invest in things. I'm going to try to use some of these ideas, cuz if i go back to work this summer (part time or prn) i'd LIKE to bank all of my paycheck except for any childcare issues. That would be HEAVEN for us.

Michelle, what was the name of that book??

I'm not Michelle, but I've recently found The Automatic Millionaire to be a good read. It's very basic but gives an easy approach to saving for the future.

Originally posted by snowymtnmama
You know, we are trying SO hard to get to start saving consistently. What sucks is that right now our expenses require MOST of DH's salary and doesn't leave much room to invest in things. I'm going to try to use some of these ideas, cuz if i go back to work this summer (part time or prn) i'd LIKE to bank all of my paycheck except for any childcare issues. That would be HEAVEN for us.

Michelle, what was the name of that book??

Here it is....a link that is:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312316046/qid=1078103124/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/103-0827132-0575040?v=glance&s=books

Just in case that does not work, the authors name is Mary Hunt and the book is *The Complete Cheapskate*

I think the title is misleading because it makes it sound like another book like the Tighwad Gazette and it is more about financial planning IMHO.

If you can get it through the library, it is worth reading. It may resonate with you and it may not. But it did work for us and we are improving every month with our finances.

Hugs,
Michelle

Thanks so much! I'll see if the library has both books to compare! ANYTHING is better than nothing at this point.

DH is about to start doing the retirement thing too. He's scared to invest in the 401K's cuz he lost his skin when the market crashed back in the 90's. But they start out with us saving (i think) 1-2% so i guess we'll see how it goes. Any tips on 401K's? What exactly ARE they anyway? lol

Originally posted by Momof6
How did you personally do savings for your childrens college? I mentioned we are planning to use my salary (I'll start teaching again in two years....our oldest will be 16 yrs old then and we'll save all my income).....but I'd like to start another savings on top of that, beyond the series EE savings bonds that we've been purchasing since they were born.
Michelle

Michelle,

I'm sorry I didn't answer this sooner. I didn't remember I answered this thread in the first place. :p

We have 529 plans for our older two. Most savings require a small lump sum to start. Then, we do a monthly automatic deduction directly into their 529 plans. What we normally do is save all money given to them at birth and then save up the lump sum to open the account. Then, we start the deduction. So, the deduction starts at their birth essentially, but is isn't allocated until we open the account. I'm not sure if we'll do the 529 for Spencer. I'm still researching my options.

Helpful hint for the remainder of this topic:

The only way we've ever made headway with savings is to do automatic deductions. We pay ourselves first and then the bills. Even if your automatic deduction is $20 per month, you will end up ahead. Eventually, you can take more money out. I used to think we didn't have any money left over. Now I know that simply isn't true.

-Stacy G.
Stacinator

EXACTLY, Stacy. We do that, too. Pay ourselves first.

We found that setting up a bidget to clearly see where every penny was going was essential to finding the money to save, too. We found LOTS more than we thought! We used a cash envelope system - and set amounts for eveyr spending... like food, gas, clothing, entertainment, misc., fun money for me, fun money for dh. Now we are able to spend a LOT more on clothing because I know I have x amount every month. Rather than spending and then figuring out how to make the other ends meet.

Thanks for sharing that Stacy...I like how you saved up from birth and then opened it with a lump sum. Great method!

I totally agree with auto transfers.....that is what really did help us too. That way, the money is "gone" into the other account and you are so right, even $20 adds up!!

We also tracked our spending...every single dime for three months and we were amazed at how many areas we were able to "cut" back on. It was a pain, but soooo worth it!!!

I also used the grocery money in the envelope method. When the $800 ran out, we ate beans. *lol* Just last month, after feeling I have a handle on things, I combined our grocery with our household budgets and now write checks.....but if it gets out of hand, I'll go right back to the cash in the envelope again. No doubt about that!!

Thanks again everyone for this thread.

Michelle