September 26, 2013
Paying yourself first is one of the most powerful wealth creating ideas you can implement. How do you do it? Why does it work?
Paying yourself first is one of the most powerful wealth creating ideas you can implement. How do you do it? Why does it work?
Everyone needs a little incentive to keep on going. If you dump every penny into places where you cannot personally use them in the short term can be draining to you as you go on. If you never treat yourself, you may lose motivation to keep on working, and saving then all of the repression becomes bottled up and splurging occurs, resulting in massive amounts of spending,and/or a miserable existence. It is good to balance into account your well being in the here and now along with the well being of you in the future for success. Paying yourself first gives you a carrot hung from a stick to chase. You can see the prize ahead of you, it keeps the motivation running strong.
Paying yourself first means that when you have an income, put aside a set amount, like 10% of that money into a savings account that you don’t touch. So if you receive $100 for pet sitting, you put $10 away, leaving you with $90 to spend. On a more long term goal like retirement, you should set it up so that a certain amount of money is taken out every pay period and go directly to your retirement account, like a Roth IRA or (if you are lucky), an employer matched retirement plan.
Nice job you two. I would say Rene captured the point in its most basic form. Set up automatic savings at the beginning of the month and then spend what is left. Save first, spend second. This prioritizes savings over spending. This can be done into a basic savings account, your work retirement account, and/or a Roth IRA. Just do it!