Have you ever wondered why technology plays such a big part of our lives? Why it’s so innovative? It’s because it automates so many of our daily tasks and gives us our most precious asset back – time. When we have more time, we can enjoy the things we love to do, spend time with the people most important to us, and feel fulfilled. We no longer have to go to the bank to deposit a check, we can order take out, groceries or an Uber right from our smartphones, and we can even program our coffee to be ready for us in the morning.
Of course these are just small examples, and we could take it a step further with things like self-driving cars and business practices, but ultimately all of these innovations lead to less stress, less errands to run after work and more time on our hands to spend in a way we enjoy.
But what about when it comes to our finances? Can automating our finances make things simpler for us too? Automating our finances can not only make our lives easier, but it can quickly add up in savings and portfolio growth that we don’t even have to put thought into.
Let’s start with your paycheck, where is it going every month? If it’s going straight to your checking account for you to pay bills from and then decide what to do with all the rest, try paying yourself first instead. Do this by determining a percentage of your salary to be directed straight into your investment account and automatically invested upon receipt. This will not only make it easier to save money, but your money will be going right to work for you rather than just sitting in cash. If you don’t even see the money coming into your checking account it’s much harder to spend it.
In addition to this, make sure that if you’re eligible for a retirement plan through work that you’re taking advantage of it and making contributions with each paycheck.
Another big part of our finances that we should be automating is bill pay. By having our lenders draw the amount due from our checking accounts makes sure that those bills are getting paid and nothing is slipping through the cracks! There’s nothing worse than paying a penalty and getting a credit score hit just because you forgot to pay a bill on time, so automate as much of this as you can.
By automating our finances, we not only save on the time it takes to manage all of our money, invest it, and pay our bills, but we also get mental clarity around our assets. We know that we’re saving each and every month, that we’re investing and that we’re not missing bills and having surprise late fee’s due to simple mistakes.
The power of automation has a significant impact on our lives, but especially when it comes to our money and financial well-being.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.