Savings & Emergency Fund Blueprint

Step 1: Introduction to Savings and Emergency Funds

• Importance of Saving: Become secure, achieve your goals, and grow your wealth.
• Emergency Fund: Used for urgent needs like medical bills or job loss that happen out of the blue.
• Benefits you by reducing debt, providing peace of mind, and building resilience.

Step 2: Creating a Savings Strategy

• Define short, medium, and long-term financial goals.
• Organize savings into buckets: retirement, education, travel, emergency, etc.
• Prioritize emergency savings, but pay off high interest debt first!

Your personal financial website My Money Vision™ gives you helps with your strategy!

Step 3: Building an Emergency Fund

• Save 3-6 months of living expenses based on your needs.
• Don't make it harder than it is: start small and make consistent contributions.
• Use your monthly expense estimate to set targets. More on this with My Money Vision™.

Step 4: Key Factors to Consider

• Risk Tolerance: Keep your fund in safe, liquid accounts.
• Economic Stability: Adjust based on employment and economy.
• Personal Factors: Account for family, health, and job type.

Step 5: Best Places to Store Emergency Funds

• Traditional Savings Accounts
• Money Market Accounts
• Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
• High-Yield Online Savings Accounts

Step 6: Maintaining and Rebuilding Your Fund

• Automate your savings contributions.
• Rebuild your fund after any use.
• Adjust for inflation regularly.

Step 7: Understand the Difference Between Saving & Investing

• Emergency funds = safety + liquidity.
• Investments = growth + risk.
• Balance both for full financial health.

Step 8: Save for Specific Goals

• Homeownership
• Education
• Retirement

There are different ways to diversify how much you save based on your needs.

Step 9: Lifestyle Adjustments to Boost Savings

• Build and follow a budget.
• Cut unnecessary expenses by controlling impulse spending.
• Explore new income streams.
• Practice delayed gratification.