I keep saying that 2021 is the year I’m getting my finances in order. Now that we’re in the second half of the year, I wanted to check in with you and see how you’re doing. We all have some kind of dream of what we’d like to do with our money. But something that Kevin and I realised this year is that we lacked a road map of how to get there. It’s great to say that you’d like to retire at age 50 – but, what’s the plan? Have you figured out how much money you need to have saved up by then for it to even be possible? What are your savings goals?
It’s safe to say that most of us save – in the sense of putting money away for a rainy day. But where we actually put our money is the real test. Is it sitting in a separate account earning very little to no interest, or is it in an investment account that will grow the money’s worth? I recently shared a video on the difference between the two. If you’re a bit of a newbie in the world of investments like me, have a watch. I promise you, there’s hardly any financial jargon that’ll confuse you.
I recently asked my Instafam about their saving habits, and most of them are saving for similar things. So let’s quickly chat about these top three savings goals and the best accounts to grow that money in.
Short Term Savings Goal
Great For: A Holiday
Well, if there was anything that will make people want to travel, it’s 2020 and being in lockdown. Even if it’s local, a little holiday break needs to be planned and saved for. Some people had planned on travelling before the global lockdown and might still have that money they’d saved for the holiday floating around. As Kevin and I said in our video chatting about money, the best thing to do is to put that money away before it’s spent.
A Nedbank Electronic 32Day Notice account is perfect for this. You only need R250 to open it, and you can contribute to it regularly to earn interest. Just like the name, you need to give a notice of 32 days to access your money. In case you need to access that money before the 32 days is up, you can withdraw. You can also save any amount you can, even just R50. If saved regularly, it will eventually grow into a substantial amount from interest.
If you save regularly on your Nedbank Electronic 32Day Notice and signup for their loyalty pro-gramme, Greenbacks, you stand a chance to win up to R50 000. Just download their Money App to apply for the account. It’ll take you less than 2 minutes.
Long Term Savings Goals
Great for: A Bond on a Home
Growing up, I remember my dad always telling us that owning a home is one of the best decisions my siblings and I should make. I took that to heart and luckily Kevin felt the same way. We worked hard at saving and bought our home eight years ago. It’s been a great buy, and we’re proud we were able to bring both of our babies back from the hospital to this home. I just wish we had known about some of the better ways we could’ve saved the money for our bond deposit. At that time, we weren’t as clued up on money as we are now.
If we could go back in time, we’d advise our 27-year-old selves to put the money we had saved into a Nedbank 12 Month Fixed Deposit. The longer the money is in there, the higher the balance and the higher the returns. Your capital and your interest rate are guaranteed – you will always get out more than what you put in. Opening an account like this would’ve helped our money grow, so by the time we found our house, we could’ve put down a bigger deposit, and started on the journey of paying our house off earlier. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
If you’re reading this, you now know better than our 27-year-old selves. You can open this account with Nedbank with just R1000. Of course, if you’re saving towards a bigger goal such as a bond on a home, you’d need to deposit a larger amount for you to really benefit from the interest you can gain.
As always, I’m no money expert. I’m still learning with all of you. But what’s always worked for us is when we agree on a goal, and no matter what, stick to it and keep saving until we reach it. It’s important to know where we’re saving our money. All three of these accounts have no monthly fees and are easy to open. Just download the Nedbank Money App to start investing in one.
You can view all of your investment and savings options on Nedbank’s website for more information.
What are your savings goals?
*Sponsored by Nedbank
Photography: Vije Vijedranath @Instahubbyza
