COVID-19 forced many Americans into situations that brought their financial deficiencies to the forefront. Being laid off without savings, draining savings accounts just to get by, and encountering astronomically high medical bills are just a few of the money problems people had during the pandemic.

                By                    Sam DiSalvo

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Knowing How and When To Save

One way to make saving money integrated into your financial routine is to automate it. Your bank probably offers automated transfers, so you could send a set amount into your savings account every time your paycheck hits. Some banks take this to the next level. For example, Bank of America has a program called Keep the Change, where it rounds your purchases up to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference into your savings account.

Whatever you decide on for a savings plan, it’s important to keep it consistent, so that when you do need to dip into it, you know more money will come in to replenish it. No amount is too small to get started. 

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Picking Investments and Saving for Retirement 

Investing is a hot topic, but most people feel like they don’t know enough about it to get started. According to the survey, 37% of people wish they knew more about investing during the pandemic. 

The survey also showed that 25% of respondents wished they knew more about retirement planning before the pandemic. Both investing and planning for retirement can actually be started quite easily with a 401(k) plan. If you work full-time, you might have access to retirement plan benefits. Enrolling in a 401(k) plan is a great way to dip your toes into investing while saving for your future. These plans automatically take a portion of your paycheck that you decide and put them into a retirement account. Experts working at the financial institution that holds the account can help you figure out which funds you want to put your money toward, based on your risk tolerance. 

Another way to get into investing is via apps. Apps like Acorns can make it easy for first time investors to get a handle on the stock market and grow their wealth. Like the Bank of America Keep the Change program, Acorns rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference into your investment fund. The app asks questions to get to know you and your goals, then invests based on your portfolio and risk tolerance. There is a small fee to get started, but hopefully you’ll make that back in your growing net worth.

Solidifying a Budget

You probably know you need to make a budget, but don’t know where to start. Maybe you already have one but you don’t update it. These were common problems many people were experiencing before 2020, and the issues only became more apparent when COVID-19 hit. The survey showed that 33% of Americans felt they needed to learn more about budgeting because of the pandemic. 

The best way to start budgeting is to track your expenses for a month. You can use a spreadsheet where you manually track how much you spend on categories like rent, groceries, eating out, shopping etc.

You also can use an app such as Truebill, which connects to your bank account and tracks your expenses for you. Truebill then provides insights and tips to keep your spending in check.

Whether you use an app or manually track what you spend, make savings goals and adjust your spending based on those goals. Make sure you check your budget at least monthly and update it whenever your income changes. 

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