REMEMBER YOUR
SAVINGS?
HERE'S WHY YOU
SHOULD MAKE THEM
WORK FOR YOU
A
BPT
generation ago, Americans were savers.
When the Greatest Generation and Boomers
needed to make a major purchase or wanted
to take a trip, they put money aside. And
then they saved some more. Putting money
aside each week or month was an ingrained habit, perhaps
as an outgrowth of people living through the Depression
and World War II.
Somehow Americans’ money mindset shifted, and the
instant gratification that comes with purchasing what we
want, when we want it, has erased the concept of saving
for a purchase.
Millennials in particular are frequently derailed from
their short-term savings goals by impulse. The PurePoint
survey found that compared to the Boomer generation,
millennials are three times more likely to have their
But today, half of Americans do not automatically put short-term savings derailed by an impulse trip or vacation
money into their savings accounts with each paycheck. because their friends were going; and equally three times
This is a routine that creates incremental gains every more likely to buy something on impulse because of an
online or social media ad.
few weeks.
According to a recent PurePoint Financial survey almost
OTHER FINDINGS INCLUDE:
half of Americans today don’t quite get the concept of
saving for the short term. People are putting money into • 65 percent of Americans do not know they’re missing
their employer-matched 401(k) plans for retirement, but
out on free money by not having a savings account,
and don’t understand how interest rates can impact
they’re not setting savings goals for the next one to five
their savings.
years.
That’s a mistake, says Pierre P. Habis, president of • 4 in 10 Americans believe their checking account and
PurePoint.
savings account have the same interest rates.
“People don’t realize that not saving actually costs them • One-third of Americans prefer debt and instant
money,” Habis says. “They’re leaving money on the table
gratification purchases to saving.
by not doing one simple thing: Maximizing their money
by moving it from a checking account or traditional • More than half of Americans let money sit in a
savings account to a high-yield savings account.”
checking account without transferring it to a savings
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WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE
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MARCH 2019