Real-World Strategies for Saving
Hunting for the next hot stock is a thrill. Trimming $10 off your phone bill is a drag. But if you want to get rich, I would focus on the $10.
We are captivated by stories of instant wealth, like the folks who score big gains by trading in and out of the stock market or by picking the next big investment winner. And these people do indeed exist.
Problem is, it's an awfully small group -- and odds are, it won't include you.
So how are you going to amass a decent-size nest egg? Don't bank on beating the market. Instead, to have a good shot at retiring in comfort, focus on this simple formula for financial success: Spend less than you earn.
As we all know, of course, there is nothing simple about it. Just look at the national savings rate. Despite all the hooting and hollering about the need to save for retirement, Americans this year have socked away just 1% of their disposable income.
To be honest, I find articles about saving money rather dull. The suggested cost-cutting tactics are either ridiculous ("reuse those tea bags") or the authors assume our current lifestyle is so extreme that there's a heap of room to slash spending ("cut out that thrice-daily $7 white-chocolate macadamia-nut mocha double espresso").
So what should you do? If you really want to boost your savings rate, I would focus on these three strategies.
1. Slash Overhead
As you might have noticed, everybody wants a regular slice of your income. Just think of all the hands that dip into your bank account every month.
You might be writing regular checks for electricity, oil, gas, cable, Internet access, lawn service, credit-card payments, car loans, mortgage payments, cell phones, regular phones and goodness knows what else.
As these monthly payments pile up, you are left with less and less discretionary income -- and that makes it harder and harder to save. To prevent getting boxed in like this, think long and hard before committing to anything that involves a regular monthly outlay.
Maybe you should buy a smaller house, so you end up with a smaller monthly mortgage payment. Maybe you should buy a secondhand car, so you don't get stuck with the hefty loan payments that would accompany a new vehicle. Maybe all your kids don't need cell phones -- and maybe you don't, either.
2. Save First
Once you have trimmed your monthly overhead, you will have extra money available to sock away. But now comes the tricky part. You have to make sure the money does, in fact, get saved.
If you want to live a life of frustration, try this strategy: Every month, scrimp like crazy and then, at the end of the month, save whatever is left in your checking account.
In all likelihood, you will reach month's end and discover that, once again, there is precious little to be saved. Yes, you spent the entire month struggling not to spend. But, unfortunately, many of the battles were lost.
You saw an item at the mall and you just had to buy it. Your spouse suggested going out to dinner and it sure seemed like a good idea. Friends invited you to join them at the movies and you just couldn't bring yourself to say no.
The solution: Remove the temptation to spend money that is earmarked for savings. And the way you do that is to settle on a target savings rate and then sock away the required money as soon as you get your paycheck.
Suddenly, instead of spending first and saving whatever is left, you are saving first and spending what remains. Having met your savings target, you are then free to spend the money in your checking account. What if your checking account starts heading toward zero? You will have to cut back -- but it will be too late to cut back on savings.
As you look to boost your savings rate, keep two things in mind. First, don't be overly aggressive with your savings target. If you funnel too much of your paycheck into savings, you might find yourself racking up big credit-card bills, because that is the only way you can make ends meet.
Second, don't stick your monthly savings in a bank money-market or savings account. It is just too easy to dip into these accounts if money gets tight.
So where should you stick your savings? I would get the money into mutual funds held in your employer's retirement plan, your regular taxable account or an individual retirement account. That will put your savings a little further out of reach.
3. Make It Automatic
Which brings me to my third suggestion: To make all this even easier and to introduce yet more discipline, look to automate your regular savings. On that score, your top choice should be to invest in your employer's 401(k) plan through payroll deduction.
But also consider setting up mutual-fund automatic investment plans. With these automatic investment plans, money is pulled out of your bank each month and invested directly into the funds you choose. As an added bonus, many funds will waive their regular $2,500 or $3,000 investment minimum if you sign up for one of these automatic plans.
For instance, at Baltimore's T. Rowe Price Group, New York's TIAA-CREF and San Antonio's USAA Investment Management, you can get a fund account opened simply by agreeing to invest a small sum -- usually $50 -- through a monthly automatic investment plan.
Just got rid of your credit-card debt or your car loan, so you now have an extra $300 a month? To ensure the $300 gets saved rather than spent, I would immediately jack up the amount you invest through your automatic investment plans.
实用的致富策略
四处寻找下一个走红的热门股令人无比兴奋，而从电话帐单上节余出10美元则显得有点无聊乏味。但如果你想致富的话，我还是劝你更关注后者。
迅速暴富的故事总是令我们著迷，譬如某些人通过在股市上买进卖出或者选到了下一个暴涨的热门股而获得了巨额收益。这样的人的确存在。
但问题是：这种人是极少数。而且很可能其中并不包括你。
那么，你究竟该怎样积累巨额财富呢？不要指望能跑赢大市。相反，要想获得舒服的退休生活，你应该遵循一条简单的致富法则：多赚少花。
当然，正如我们都知道的，这并不简单。看一下全国的平均储蓄率吧。尽管到处都是关于要为退休生活储蓄的宣传，美国人今年的储蓄率仅为他们可支配收入的1%。
说实话，我也发现关于储蓄的文章乏善可陈。那些文章建议的削减成本方法要么荒诞可笑（比如重复利用茶叶袋），要么就是毫不现实，那些作者好像认为我们现在的生活方式非常极端，以致于有巨大的空间来削减支出（减掉每天三次的7美元牛奶巧克力澳大利亚坚果摩卡意大利特浓咖啡）。
那么，你该怎么办？如果你真想提高储蓄率，我建议你关注以下3个策略：
1. 大幅消减日常费用
也许你已经注意到了，每个人都想要从你的收入中固定地分一杯羹。回想一下吧，每个月究竟有多少只手伸进你在银行的帐户。
你也许每月都要开出许多支票，用于支付电费、油费、煤气费、有线电视费、上网费、剪草坪费、信用卡费、汽车贷款、抵押贷款、手机费、固定电话费，天知道还有什么别的费用。
随著这些每月开支的累积，你最终剩下的可支配收入越来越少，这让存钱变得越来越困难。为了避免出现类似的困境，你在支付任何与每月日常开支相关的费用时都需要三思而后行。
也许你应该买一个小一点的房子，这样你每月偿还的抵押贷款就会少一点。也许你应该买一个二手车，这样你每月就不会为了与新车相伴的高额分期付款而发愁。也许你的孩子并不需要手机，甚至你自己也不需要。
2. 首先存钱
一旦你消减了每月的日常开支，你就有额外的钱来储蓄了。但现在陷阱也就出现了。你必须要确保自己的钱事实上真正地存起来了。
如果你想过一个充满挫折感的人生，不妨尝试以下策略：每个月，疯狂地节衣缩食，然后在月末，把所有的余额存进自己的经常帐户。
大多数情况是：你等到了月末，会再次发现只有相当少的钱可供存储了。是的，你整个月都在为了不花钱而不断斗争。但很不幸，大多数情况下，你都失败了。
你在购物中心看到一件商品，然后你就非得买它。你的配偶建议出去用餐，当然这个主意听上去不坏。朋友们邀请你一起去看电影，你总是无法拒绝。
解决办法是：消除一切引诱你花掉该存储的钱的诱惑。具体做法是：确定一个目标存储率，然后在你领到薪水后立即将必须存储的钱存上。
突然之间，一切变了。你不是先花钱，再存上剩余的钱，而是先储蓄，再花剩下的钱。只要你实现了存储目标，然后就能自由地花费经常帐户中的钱。如果你的经常帐户余额开始逐渐趋于零怎么办？那么，你将不得不减少储蓄率。但是，削减储蓄会显得太晚了。
如果你希望提高储蓄率，有两点你应该记住：第一，不要制定过高的储蓄目标。如果你从薪水中拿出太多用于储蓄，那么你可能会发现自己收到了更大额的信用卡帐单，因为那是你唯一可以支付费用的途径。
第二，不要把你每月的储蓄存在银行货币市场或储蓄帐户中，因为在你手头紧的时候，从这些帐户取钱太容易了。
那么，你应该把钱存在哪里？我建议你把钱存入由你的雇主退休计划持有的共同基金里，或者你日常应纳税的帐户，或者个人退休帐户。这样，存款就不是那么容易提取了。
3. 形成规矩
接下来就引出我第三个建议：为了让存储变得更容易，为了更有纪律性，你应该想方设法让日常储蓄形成规矩。考虑到这一点，你最佳的选择是通过削减薪水，把钱投资到你雇主的401(k)退休计划上。
但也可以考虑建立共同基金自动投资计划。通过这些自动投资计划，你的钱将会每个月从银行帐户上划出，直接投资到你选择的基金里。如果你签约参加这类的自动投资计划，许多基金都会考虑以取消最低2,500到3,000美元的投资限额作为额外的奖赏。
比如巴尔的摩的基金T. Rowe Price Group、纽约的TIAA-CREF和圣安东尼奥的USAA Investment Management，通过一个每月自动投资计划，只要你答应投资很小的数额，通常是50美元，它们就会给你开一个基金帐户。
取消你的信用卡债务或者汽车贷款，你每月将会有额外的300美元。为了确保这300美元被存起来了，而不是花掉了，我会毫不犹豫地建议你把这部份钱投入到自动投资计划上。
