by Chinkee Tan
“Save for the rainy days” is another famous line you hear from time to time. As a child, you were probably urged by your family to “save your money” from the allowance that you regularly receive.
Saving is a habit, therefore, you need to continuously do it so you’ll get used to it. And because the habit of saving has been encouraged even in the younger generation, its concept has been understood by almost everyone, young and old.
Here are three reasons why you need to save now:
You want to become financially independent
As you grow older, you develop needs that were once just thoughts or ambitions.
For instance a car. You may identify the need for a car as your professional workload increases – you realize that having a car saves you time and makes you flexible when traveling from one place to another.
However, some needs are not met because your resources are limited and this is where your savings play an important part. When you save, you expand your resources. You are now able to acquire needs that your usual paycheck cannot afford.
When you have savings, borrowing money or looking for it elsewhere may no longer be an option for you – so goodbye home and car loans, what you need is just right below your nose thereby making you financially able and independent.
You are not getting any younger
Your age and capability to produce wealth are inversely proportional: As you grow older, your skills (those which you use to earn) may decrease in functionality and that is a fact everyone needs to understand and accept.
Saving at an early age, or even deciding to save now might just actually save you. The earlier you start saving, the more money you save and the more things you can do with what you’ve saved.
Simple logic, isn’t it? So really, time is never the enemy here, in fact, you can always use time to your advantage and in this case, when you choose to save now!
You want to be prepared, always
Life is full of surprises and you need to understand that not all surprises are good. In your financial journey, it could be something that requires money, say for instance a sudden need for health care (hospitalization).
Next to prayer, savings can be your biggest weapon when life gives you not-so-good-surprises. Saving is tantamount to preparedness. And being prepared is what you want to be when you’re thrown a curveball.
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago” – Warren Buffet
THINK. REFLECT. APPLY.
Why is saving important? How long have you known the concept of saving? Do you have savings? Or have you started saving? If not, what hinders you from starting to save?