How To “Trick” Yourself Into Saving More

With inflation high and money tight for so many of us, 现在是重新审视我们如何管理自己的财务，并采取一些行动来增加储蓄的最佳时机. Some 61% of Americans — 203 million people — are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and 13% of us are spending more than we earn. Not only is this causing us stress in the here and now, but it’s also leading to lasting regrets for the future. Nearly 70% of Americans have financial regrets, including not saving soon enough for retirement, having credit card debt, and not having an emergency fund.

当然，简单的部分是认识到我们需要改变我们的习惯. The more challenging part is making the changes and then actually sticking to them. Researchers may have an answer. Hint: It has to do with thinking small. A study from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of London (published in the INFORMS journal, Marketing Science) 成功地运用了一种被称为“心理重构”的行为新沙巴体育网学技巧. They conducted a study with 2,000 customers of a personal finance 允许用户储蓄和投资少量资金的应用程序. 注册了定期存款计划的新用户可以随机选择每月存入150美元, weekly $35 deposits or daily $5 deposits.

结果是这样的:储蓄者更有可能承诺——并坚持——专注于小额储蓄的个人储蓄方案, daily amounts over the large, intimidating per-month goal. In fact, 选择参加定期存款计划的人数是选择每天5美元的人数的四倍，而不是每月150美元的储蓄目标.

小额储蓄选择的吸引力也使低收入和高收入消费者之间的竞争变得公平. When presented with the $150-a-month savings program, 高收入消费者的注册率是低收入消费者的三倍. 当存款被设定为每天5美元时——一个月后你也会得到150美元——参与率差距就完全消除了.

Perception — And Convenience — Matters

不难理解为什么把大的目标分解成小块更容易消化. Big numbers — like saving $1 million for retirement — can feel daunting, 即使我们完全知道积累足够的退休资金需要几十年的时间(也取决于你储蓄的钱的投资增长).).

让我们很多人保持观望的一件事是，我们如何衡量那些我们现在不必花费的美元的机会成本. 为明天存一美元意味着今天少花一美元. However, 该研究的作者证明，每天放弃5美元的心理计算要容易得多. 与下定决心一次性花掉150美元相比，这是一个相对较小的牺牲(放弃一份零食或杂志).

Reframe Your Savings Goals

如果你面临着一个似乎无法实现的储蓄目标, 用一些简单的数学方法把它缩小到一个不那么吓人的大小:

Save $8 a day 消除500美元的信用卡余额:不要让挥之不去的余额让你消化不良. 你可以在两个月内将每日三明治的成本降至0美元.

Save $11 a day to amass a $2,000 emergency fund: Sock away your spare dollars for six months, and you’ll be sitting on a healthy $2,为了减轻任何意外开支带来的冲击，我们准备了1万英镑的现金缓冲. Need longer to come up with that amount? A smidge over $5 a day gets you there a year from now.

Save $17.80 a day 最大限度地利用你的个人退休账户:美国国税局允许你每年最多缴纳6500美元 Roth or traditional IRA. (It’s $7,500 if you’re over age 50). You’ll have to save $540 a month to do it in 12 months.

Grab All of Your Matching 401(k) Dollars

And while we’re talking retirement, 你能做的最简单也是最赚钱的事情就是确保你利用了雇主提供的任何401(k)(或其他退休计划)资金.  许多雇主在一定的供款限额上设定50%的比例，这代表你的钱有50%的保证回报.  Plus, it’s free money.  How much?  好吧，假设你的雇主——像许多人一样——将50%的供款与你工资的6%相匹配.  If you’re making $75,000 a year, you need to contribute 6% ($4,500) in order to qualify for a 3% ($2,250) match.  That $4,500 works out to about $12.30 a day, or $173 every bi-weekly paycheck.  只要记住，如果你参加的是传统的401(k)计划(而不是罗斯计划)，这笔钱是在你的薪水中扣除税款之前的. So that $173 will feel like even less.  And, 最好的部分是，你可以设置它，然后忘记它——401(k)和其他类似的退休账户是如此有效，因为钱在你看到它之前就从你的工资中取出来了, touch it, or spend it.   PS:如果你通过工作获得了健康储蓄账户, there may be incentive dollars for participation there, too.  Make it a point to grab them as well. 

Automate For Even More Savings

最后，在你结束之前，把自动401(k)的魔力应用到你的生活中.  也许你的信用卡或汽车付款是自动支付的, and you’ve seen that it’s super convenient. You can do the exact same thing with your savings, and every month (or week, 你可以从你的支票账户中自动把一定数量的钱转到储蓄账户中. It happens without you having to manually move money, 也就是说，你的积蓄会积累起来，你甚至不用动一根手指.

想想看:在新年来临的时候，你的信用卡上没有因为购买节日礼物而产生的余额，这种感觉不是很好吗? You can get there! 大致计算一下你假期要花多少钱, 然后用这个金额除以你想要给自己达到目标的月(周)数. Then, 你会自动将这笔钱转到一个专门的储蓄账户. Before you know it, the money will be there for you when you need it, all because of your bite-sized savings goal. 如果这听起来像你需要一点帮助，看看 Finance Fixx small group coaching program, 有一个专门的教练和一个负责任的合作伙伴团队会指导你完成它吗, step-by-step.