Saving & Investing in Everyday Life

When it comes to saving wisely there must be an undying desire to spend wisely. The less disciplined you are about your spending the more likely you are saving unwisely. Disciplined spending takes practice and determination. It is always easier to spend here and there on goods and services you want versus delaying gratification for the long-term greater good. As you discipline your spending and begin to notice positive effects it will fuel your motivation to continue to spend wisely.

Once you have reigned in your spending you can then begin to focus on saving wisely. Saving wisely is at the heart of building wealth and financial security. It is the ability to properly allocate your wealth among high returning diversified investments. The average investor accomplishes this by investing money in mutual funds with various investment objectives. This ensures your money is allocated among many different stocks that meet the investment objective of the mutual fund. Your investment risk is minimized because it is highly unlikely that all stocks held by the mutual fund will decline at the same time. It is much more probable that some will fall and others will rise, thus minimizing your exposure to the loss of capital (Initial Investment).

A long-term approach to investing in the stock market will allow you to ride out the downturns and benefit tremendously during the upswings in the economy. The stock market has returned a consistent 10% to 11% over the past century. That means a measly investment of $1,000 for 20 years investing an additional $100 per month would result in $83,265. Most people with any kind of disciplined spending could easily invest a $100 per month. Now consider you start with $5,000 for 20 years at 10% with an additional investment of $200 per month, which yields $188,514. Now suppose you start with that same $5,000 for 30 years with an average return of 10% with an average investment each month of $400 and it yields $1,003,382. Not bad considering 10-15 years from now $400 will seem like nothing, and you can up the amount you are investing and yield well over a million dollars. Now couple this investment with the home you have been paying off for the past 15 to 30 years and you have yourself a pretty nice nest egg at retirement. The key is to START YOUNG. START YOUNG. START YOUNG. You have time on your side. Time more than money makes the biggest difference. People who start late saving for retirement have to play catch up for many years to retire with the same amount of money as the person who started 5 to 10 years earlier.

As mutual fund choices are vast and sometimes confusing the Wiser Money blog recommends the following four mutual funds:


ABALXAmerican Funds American Balanced A (ABALX)
CWGIXAmerican Funds Capital World G/I A (CWGIX)
AGTHXAmerican Funds Grth Fund of Amer A (AGTHX)
AIVSXAmerican Funds Invmt Co of Amer A (AIVSX)

We not only recommend these mutual funds we have our own money invested in these mutual funds. The return has well exceeded our expectations. Information can be obtained about these mutual funds at http://www.yahoo.com or http://www.cnnf.com or http://www.cnbc.com. The ticker symbol above can be used for researching the mutual funds at the various financial portals.

Specific questions concerning these funds can be addressed in the comments section of the blog and will be answered.

Also see the following link concerning saving money:
66 Ways to Save Money

Continue to focus on Saving Wisely, Spending Wisely, and Living Wisely.