People are inspired to save money for different reasons. Share what inspires or motivates you to save in the comment box below and you could win one of six prizes we’ll be awarding, including five prizes of your choice of a $25 dining gift 
certificate or a personally autographed copy of my best-selling book, Bank On Yourself, for you or to give as a gift to someone you care about.
Five members of the Bank On Yourself team will each pick their favorite entry for the dining certificate/autographed book prizes. And together we’ll pick the most inspiring entry and award that person a $100 American Express Gift Certificate. (Sorry – U.S. residents only.)
Just post your entry in the comment box below by Monday, March 28. The prize winners will be notified by email on Friday, April 1, and the winning entries will be featured in that day’s blog post.
Save for something that excites you!
Research shows that people are more likely to save if they are saving for something that excites them, rather than because they “should” save.
For example, my husband Larry and I have two grandchildren living a couple states away. We call or Skype them (almost like being there!) every Sunday. Last Sunday, Halle, who’s in second grade, told us her favorite subjects now are science and math. She’s learning the multiplication tables, and we spent nearly an hour quizzing her – she would happily have kept doing it for another hour, but our brains were fried!
Halle’s brother Jake loves playing basketball. He’s a head taller than his classmates, so who knows where that will lead…
Anyway, a few years ago, we started savings plans for Halle and Jake’s college educations.
Doing that just feels so motivating. And because we’re saving the money in a Bank On Yourself policy, rather than an investment account or a 529 Savings Plan, we know the money will be there when needed. And if they decide to become entrepreneurs instead of going to college, the funds can be accessed without the restrictions or penalties common to 529 and other plans.
(Compare saving for college in a Bank On Yourself policy versus a 529 Plan)
So what inspires or motivates you to save?
Just post your entry in the comment box below by Monday, March 28, and you could win one of the six prizes described above!
I save because you and my dad are right. One of my father’s favorite sayings was: “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” I think your program is the best advice I’ve ever seen about how to save defensively, and I thank you for sharing your knowledge. Here’s to you and Dad!
Pamela,
I had been “looking for a vehicle” to start saving in…you know a safer more effective way to save.
I really don’t know how I recieved the e-mail for this but what a blessing it has been.
Now I KNOW that I can retire with MORE than just a state subsidized (lol) retirement so we can travel to see family at a whim, be debt free, and just really do what we want to. I am really looking foward to another policy to fund….I think we will call it hmmmmmm…..the Dave and Kathy fund.
Happy savings to all,
God Bless,
David
Over the course of the last few years, I have reprogrammed my financial mind. The old programming told me to work hard, fund my traditional investments (401k, stocks, mutual funds) and buy some term insurance. If I could stomach the ups and downs of the market, I would one day be set and have financial security in my retirement years.
This approach was in deed building wealth in a fantastic way!
Unfortunately, I wasn’t building wealth for my family, but for the stock brokers, mutual fund managers and the tax man. Sadly, they didn’t even send
me a birthday card on my birthday.
I realized after seeing failure after failure with this approach, there must be a better way. I started researching, digging, talking to various people to find this better way. A few years ago, I came across the BOY approach and found it to be the most compelling way to achieve what I was after. During all of this research, the reprogramming was well underway.
As part of the reprogramming of my financial mind, I started to separate the concepts of savings and investment. It seems to me, most people are turned up side down with investing before saving. If you don’t have savings, I don’t believe
you should be investing. Savings first, then investing is my approach. It is critical that my savings remain predictable and safe. The investments on the other hand are more risky and if it is lost my plan still works in the end. Savings are the
foundation of my financial health and if my investments do well, then its icing on the top.
Savings to me is the concept of building capital that I can use to fund college, generate a passive income, borrow for major purchases, and then easily pass on wealth to my family. I not only wish to pass on money to my family but true
wealth consisting of the peace and security that comes with savings in a BOY policy.
I’ve played the Cashflow game (Robert Kiyosaki – author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad) with my children. The way to win the game is to have a passive income that exceeds your liabilities. Although this is just a game, I am playing it in real life and BOY is a huge part of how I will win. By funding my 2 BOY policies, I’m building capital. That capital will one day generate a passive income for me to use when I determine the time is right. Along the way, I can use that capital to fund the major purchases of life. As I’m using the capital, it keeps working in my account unlike taking it out of a traditional bank account or mutual fund.
My new financial mind is programmed to work hard to generate an income, save, share and then invest.
My husband was at a networking function and came home with a copy of Bank On Yourself. Needing a new book to read, I picked it up and started reading it. It wasn’t at all what I thought it would be. I was only a few chapters into the book when I realized this is going to change my life for the better in a profound way.
You see, I understand the fraud that is the Federal Reserve. I know how “the bankstas” have stolen and continue to steal TRILLIONS (we may actually be in QUADRILLIONS by now) from Americans since the establishment of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Furthermore, I understand how these bankstas rig the stock market, create booms and busts, and inflate the money supply by creating money out of thin air so we have rampant inflation.
When I quickly realized what BOY was all about, I realized this is a HUGE step towards financial sovereignty. Over the last few year I started making small steps towards self sufficiency (starting a vegetable garden, cutting back on excess overhead, storing food). Looking at the state of our country and the financial mess that both parties have gotten us into, it became clear that I would have to take matters into my own hands. I figured out about 15 years ago that I’m not going to be able to count on social security. So I learned about mutual funds and investing in the stock market. About 3 years ago I realized the Market is a rigged casino and the bankstas always win and our government is their willing accomplice. (By definition, this is fascism, folks.)
BOY is an amazing financing and saving tool that allows you and I to take control of our money, leverage it in ways previously unimaginable and bring us one step closer to individual freedom. And THAT is what inspires me to save.
I took a trip in 2008 to South America– I pulled out of my driveway in North Carolina on a KTM 950 Adventure motorcycle and kept riding for 4 months until I arrived in Peru. When I left, it was the “trip of a lifetime.”
To see some of the photos, visit http://www.ShannonNicholson.net
But somewhere out on the road, and crossing through 15 different countries by motorcycle, I changed… and that philosophy of “trip of a lifetime” was no longer true. The trip had now become the “FIRST trip of a lifetime” and I was inspired to plan for many more.
Now, my wife and I save for adventure– now and in the future. We’re paying close attention to our investments, we’re starting a Bank On Yourself plan, and we’re figuring out ways to work away from our home and office so we can enjoy month-long adventures every year.
I have 2 grand children; everything I save is for them. Their Mom and Dad have decent jobs, nothing that will allow them to let the kids get additional education, college or technical training. So from the day they were born I would put away $15-$20 per week for each and hopefully when they reach that decision time it will be a help.
I just got engaged a week ago, I know that when my fiance graduates from school she’ll have $20,000 in student loans. I’ve been saving for the past year and a half to pay of my loans. Now I’m saving for the next year to pay off hers as soon as she graduates
She has no idea, and the timing will work out just perfect for our wedding one year from now.
- David
What motivates me to save? At first it was purely motivated for self gain. When I took a look at that goal, it was premature. I am not married or have kids, but I knew if that were to come into the picture, then that motivation to save would change from personal to family.
Then upon looking at that, most would look to bigger things after family, like community or some other charitable cause, and that’s where my motivation now lies.
Ask yourself a question: What do these words have in common? Flood, income, underwater, drowning, currency, flow, Bank,Floating, Deposits, Pumping, Frozen, Liquid, Slush “fund”, circulation…etc.
I think you get the idea, Money behaves like water, so we describe it as such.
That view has totally changed my philosophy of how I now treat money and use it around myself. I now am motivated to use money to invest in my local surroundings and improve my area the best I can.
While this may sound altruistic, it is still very much capitalistic, what better way to re-circulate the money in a local economy, that can bear more positive action via the velocity of money, than just being locked away in sum “fund” for a rainy day.
By doing this, no amount of inflation or currency collapse or banking restrictions on lending can stop a local economy that produces its own items for trade, with REAL capital (read as tools) to produce and employ people in meaningful work.
PS. Here is one example of the power of recirculation of currency within a community, building business, employing people, with very little lending to them during those times and still creating wealth! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nssa5B79784
Now imagine what a BOY policy in the right people’s hands can do!
Source:
http://blog.creativethink.com/2007/01/the_water_model.html
peace of mind!
I save when I see financial uncertainty in my country…like the last two and a half years! I am a capitalist and during that time the U S government has gone way beyond its purpose. I need to supoort my family first.
So, I will be savings as much as possible from now on.
My main reason to save is to take care of my children, extended family, and other charitable giving. I see the BOY plan as a wonderful way to make better use of our
money than ever before. It offers a vehicle to make the money grow, keep it safe, and to actually grow wealth to pass on as an inheritance to the next generation.
In the times in which we live, with the devaluation of the dollar, the bankruptcy of the social security system, the collapse of government and union pension systems, the volatility of the stockmarket, and the other financial stresses of
our world, the BOY system shines like a beacon of hope on the road to financial
security and prosperity. Even if the dollar collapses, hopefully the money will be
safer in a BOY policy than in other financial vehicles.
When I listen to the news about the unrest over pensions, and the bankruptcy
of the US government, I think that BOY policies could be an answer to help
people to become financially independent and to get free from what the US government has to offer in the form of bankrupt social security and pensions.
I have dhildren…2 girls and 2 boys…They are my life…my inspiration! I also have a deep desire to help dhildren whether they be sick or homeless or in unhealthy and unloving families and I have a strong desire to help parents that have been effected by the economy that has caused them to be unable to care for their loved ones. Its a tall order and there are many of those tht I speak of in this situation so I pray that the lord blesses me with the ability to help these people…not just my own but All of Gods children young and old. Finding a way to grow assets to the extent that I could help as many as possible would make me feel that I have fulfilled God’s purpose for me in this life.
Raised by my Grandparents I learned though example to smell the roses, enjoy the beauty of the world and save for a rainny day. Bank on Yourself helps with all of that.
I want to earn more than the low interest CD’s are paying an be able to leave my childreen something and fund my own long term care if needed . I was in a mutual fund in the 90″s and luckily lost only my accumulated interest . I got out of that fund and invested in CD’s instead. They were paying good interest up until lately and now i’m waiting to hear they will be charging me to keep my money in their institutions . (A little financial humor .) At my age I’m afraid the insurance premium will be cost prohibitive . I just need to schedule an appointment and find out for sure I guss .
I am inspired to save because I know if I do not save than I am never going to be any better than my ability to earn an income (meaning I will never be able to retire.) To be able to save and allocate money in the most efficient places today, in pre-retirement, will allow me to be able to maximize my retirement income and also allow for legacy maximization if I choose.
Saving to me is just hanging on to what I’ve earned and I mean hanging on. It is not greed that motivates me to save but fear. Like everyone else who responds, I worked hard for what I have and have had (past tense, see 1999-201 and 2008). If I do not take steps to save and maybe earn some interest no one is going to do it for me. I only wish that I had found BOY earlier!
My motivation is tired of being broke. My savings and most of my retirement accounts were depleted due to being unemployed for 6 1/2 months back in 2006. Besides working full-time, I was running my business part-time and was in the middle of a renovation (a contract I fulfilled until someone else was able to take over). 5 years later, I’m starting to breath. I put away $50/month to rebuild my emergency fund (which I never had). Relied too much on my lines of credit as my safety net. Once those became frozen, everything spiraled down very quickly. Slowly all creditors are getting paid back.
Freedom from Uncertainty
I believe strongly in paying yourself first and saving for raining days,because you have something to fall backm on.
My parents were poor.They struggled to put me to college in the Philippines.There was no such thing as loan for education in my country. My dad worked 3 jobs, saved money,paid my tuition,borrowed money from the bank, worked, save and so on, cycling like this for seven years until I graduated from medical school.
I trained in the US and became a Fellow and Diplomate in Pedaitrics.
Early on, I realized the value of my parents sacrifice, and the value of puting aside any amount to save.
I petitioned for them,. They have lived with me for years. My dad is now deceased for 25 years. My mom is 951/2 years old now.and is living with me.I got married when I was 34 years old, got unmarried at 48 years old.
I am 71 years old,now, still full time practicing Pediatrics.I have 2 boys 34 and 32 years old.I have to continue to save to help my 32 year old to finish medical school.
, also to share it with my other love ones when the need arises, and also to share it with religious and charitable organizations that are in need,
Inflation, government waste, trickery, higher taxes, outrageous medical costs, and
smiling politicians all motivate me to save.
I save for the security it gives me. I am a special education and author. My wife is a former teacher and now stay-at-home mom to our two young daughters. I am the sole bread winner in my family and, thus, am responsible for feeding all us, paying our mortgage and keeping the heat/ac turned on. I do not buy expensive things at this point in my life because I know that something could break or I could lose my job any given day. I do not anticipate this happening but that is why I have an emergency fund – these things are emergencies. I sleep soundly every night knowing that, because I save, I can will still be able to provide for my family if something unexpected happens.
It would be nice to see if by starting, Banking on Myself, in the, Bank on Yourself plan, would reap financial security for my wife and I. If time and staying with the plan proves to us how to pay ourselves back if we do go on a dream vacation trip or pay for those yearly family vacations that our children can not contribute at this time, what a legacy we would leave to them. We could show our family how it was done through Bank on Yourself and hopefully show the way it was done.
Everyone has a different motivation to “keep” more of their hard earned money. If you are like myself, then we don’t have all the advantages of the wealthy and politically connected.
“Bank on Yourself” levels the playing field and allows us to CONTROL our assets thus giving us a modicum of protection from the entitlement ” you don’t need that money” mentality of the government.
It all comes down to peace of mind and the FREEDOM to spend what we make on what we want!
I am determined to provided a solid financial future for my wife and kids. Currently my wife is a stay at home mom and I need to make sure that we show a positive example to other young families. Our family motto is “we shall be lenders and not borrowers” and the bank on yourself lends it self directly to this motto.
I am motivated to save because the end result is always positive if it is specifically designed to achieve well defined objectives.For example, recently I saved up over a period of 18 months to buy a car. On time and to specification, I achieved my goal. To me that is success.And success brings happiness. And happiness makes me enjoy and live fully and contented. Also, each time I saved to make a down payment to purchase real estate. I am always excited when I met my goal. And anytime I am successful it is a milestone in my life. Saving for my dreams change my life for good. It is the same reason that I want to get involved in B.O.Y. programs because I am assured from what I have read so far, that I can use the equity in the savings plan to pay cash for major purchases and still pay my plan back with all the interest generated. This is exciting. On top of this, my plan and the dividends are still intact. This makes me happy.