Financial goals for couples

If you are not familiar with it, here's the short version:

• Every pay day, you put aside a certain amount for savings before you pay any bills or buy anything whether a necessity or a luxury.
• The aim is usually to be putting 10% away all the time.

There are two books we'd recommend that spell it out in greater detail and both are easy reads that are well worth the time. The Wealthy Barber is absolutely excellent; The Richest Man in Babylon is justifiably a classic.

But what if you can barely save anything, let alone 10%? How to get started?

Start small. If you can't put away 10% of each pay check, then start putting away 2% or 3%. The amounts might be too small to justify a trip to the bank each time, so put it in a piggy bank or cookie tin. Go and deposit it in the bank when your stash gets big enough to make the effort worthwhile. That way you get to see progress and you get into the habit.

Then... increase the amount once you are used to living on a little less. One couple we met a few years ago had retired with a heck of a nest egg (and a paid off house). They started the simplest way imaginable: every time they got a raise or a bonus, they saved half of it and kept saving that amount. That way they got more to spend to live on each year, but the amount that they were saving went up and up and up over the years.

Happy Couples, Happy Planet!

Labels: goals, money, recommended

posted by Heather and Dan @ 3:56 PM