INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.- A recent survey found that the majority of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings at any given time.
Terri Lee, a young professional living and working in Indianapolis, falls into that category.
One of her short-term financial goal is to hopefully change that.
“I have $25 in my savings account,” Terri said.
She recently used the majority of the money in her savings to pay off an expensive medical bill.
By getting rid of that worry, she actually creates a new one.
“To be able to have some emergency savings is really important to me,” Terri said.
Millions of Americans will get tax refunds over the next couple of months.
Financial experts say you should look at that as opportunity to save rather than splurge.
“If you don’t have $500-$1,000 in your savings account, your tax refund should go into your savings account. If you’ve got $500-$1,000 it should probably pay off debt,” Pete the Planner said.
Ideally, for Terri that means her entire 2017 tax refund should be deposited directly into her savings.
“What Terri and I talked about is like if we can catch a little break, if we can get going. “Hello!” Tax refund check, use that as the momentum,” Pete the Planner said.
“It’s important for me to build back up my savings because I never know when an emergency might occur,” Terri said.
Another easy tip to jump-start your savings is to save your annual raise.
A lot of times we see a raise as an opportunity to expand our lifestyle, but if you continue living off what you made before and have the extra deposited directly into your savings account the money will add up quickly.
