I am probably more excited about sharing my thoughts on savings than you are reading this. Whatever the case, welcome to my super dope, very-excited-and-extremely awed-that-I-finally get-to-teach-you-how-to-make money-from-your-savings Tedwrite (Laughs heartily).
Okay, this is where you uh and ah for me, or is it clap now? Just give it up for me though!
There has always been the wrong notion that savings should be that part of your money put away as a wise and prudent spender. You know how you apportion your earnings, call one part ‘spendable cash’ and call the other part you do not have a spending plan for yet, “savings”?
That’s where the problem lies. You do not have a spending plan for the ‘savings’ yet, but when you eventually do, you’ll undoubtedly spend it, ALL of it even. So? Can we really call that your savings? I think not!
Savings is that part of your stored-away-money that is intended to work for you. The idea of working for you is, it is that money that should be used to make worthwhile investments to secure a wealthy future for you. The question now is, “How can your savings make money for you?”
In this post, I will show you how your savings make money for you (how to make money from your savings) and investment ideas you should consider to grow your targeted wealth empire. You will be amazed and totally blown to know that you can build your wealth empire from just savings.
In the meantime, we have addressed some specific questions you may have about savings, immediately below.
Why Should I Save?
Because no human on earth really wants to be broke, stay broke, grow broke or even die broke, it’s necessary to look for credible means to live well above poverty lines. Savings is the very bold step to achieving this.
The reality is, saving money is one of the best financial behaviors you can follow, with so many proven advantages. But if you don’t find it easy to save money, or if you just don’t see the point, it’s normal to ask yourself why it’s important to save money?
Saving money is important because it helps protect you in the event of a financial emergency. In addition, saving cash will help you have huge investments, prevent debt, reduce your financial burden, leave a financial legacy, and give you a greater sense of financial independence.
There are honestly endless reasons to save money. What’s of utmost importance nevertheless, is how to make money from savings.
Can you get rich just by saving?
A plethora of authors and the rest of such, have severally held that your savings cannot make you rich, disregard them please.
Here’s some deep truth; the first act of building wealth, is saving! Anyone who says otherwise, prolly has a better idea which of course, is none existent.
Let’s explore the words of Arkad in The Richest Man of Babylon by George Samuel Clason, “Surely it is a law of the Gods that unto him who keepeth and spendeth not a certain part of all his earnings, shall gold come more easily. Likewise, him whose purse is empty does gold avoid.“
George could not have framed this any better. It’s as simple as this, the more you save a part of your earnings, the more money you attract.
Thus, to grow wealthy, you have to begin by retaining at least 10% of your earnings. What makes you wealthy is not how much income you generate, no, it’s rather how much of that income you can keep (save) and then make work for you.
Subsequently, I will show you how you attract more money by saving money. Let’s just say you’re in for a change in your life’s trajectory. Welcome to the Billions club already.
How can I double my money in savings?
Firstly and very emphatically, there’s no such thing as “getting rich quick.” That’s a myth, a bad one too.
Wealth creation takes time, efforts, DISCIPLINE, CONSISTENCY, consistency again, consistency some more and some patience too. That’s why it’s often said that you, “…grow wealth.”
Now, how can you double your money in savings? Is there really something like “doubling your money in savings?”
While the “money doubling frenzy” has been exploited by scammers to trick the daylight out of people’s hopes in life, doubling your money could simply mean, “INVESTING your money to yield returns.”
Most returns may not even come as 50% interest, however, the more investments you make, the more your money grows.
So, while you cannot double your money overnight, you can make very wise investments that can grow your wealth over time. That’s the only way to double your money in savings. What you need to learn now, is how to make money from savings.
What can I do with excess money in my savings account?
The first law of money for me, is the VALUE it brings. However, the value you place on money, is the value it places on you. If you treat money as very important, it reciprocates same.
What am I saying to you? Your first reaction to money should not be to “spend” it. Rather, think of how you can multiply it. This leads me to answer your question, “what can I do with excess money in my savings account?”
My answer is as simple as the truth is, “Invest all that excess money in your savings account!”
What more profitable thing could you do with it? Nothing really. Thus, if you have excess money anywhere, look for credible investments and put in that excess money, your returns will prove that decision very rewarding.
How much cash should I save before investing?
Depending on how much you’re putting away, if you’re an aggressive saver, you should be ready to invest after 5 – 8 months savings.
However, if you’re not an aggressive saver but just taking baby-steps in savings, you’ll need a lot of discipline and about a years savings worth to invest.
There’s however, no hard and fast rule to it. I’ll explain this way; where my monthly salary is $1000 and I’m able to save up $550 monthly, If I find any credible investments of about $500, I can conveniently use just a month’s savings to make such investments.
Only note that the higher the money, the more lucrative-returns-investments you’ll be able to make. High investments yield high returns, but also have higher risks attached to them often.
Can I save effectively without Spending my Savings?
Saving from your earnings can really be tricky, especially when you’re suddenly hit by an emergency and do not know where else to get money to solve that problem. The next thing you think of is your savings, you’re just grateful enough you have money tucked away.
Unfortunately, your savings are not meant to solve emergencies, they’re rather meant to reproduce more money for you.
There’s only one way I know you can effectively save without spending your savings, it’s by putting your money where you cannot spend it.
Some banks have savings options where you leave your money for a fixed period without taking it out. Not necessarily a fixed deposit account now, but a sort of piggy-vest savings where you can save money monthly or weekly with limited access to withdrawals until a fixed period.
Strategically, the aim is to get used to saving without tampering with the money, at least, before you develop a disciplined savings lifestyle.
How to make Money from Savings
The wealth of a nation relies on the private financial prosperity of that nation’s individuals.
As stated by George Clason in his, “Richest man in Babylon“, Babylon became the wealthiest city of the ancient world because its citizens were the richest people of their time. They appreciated the value of money. They practised sound financial principles in acquiring money; keeping money and making their money earn more money. They provided for themselves what we all desire; incomes for the future.
To grow money from savings, you MUST acquire money, keep money (SAVE) and then make your surpluses (savings) earn more money. Here are very clear, a little tasking but rewarding steps on how you can make money from savings.
1. Know and Practice the Five Laws of Money
With an interest in growing your savings to earn more money for you, you will need to learn and imbibe the 5 laws of money.
The Five Laws of Money
- Money comes gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.
- Gold labors diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds it profitable
employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field. - Money clings to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.
- Gold slips away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep.
- Money flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who follows the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.
2. ORGANISE YOUR MONEY
In one of my best all-time books on financial management; The Smart Money Woman by Arese Agwu, the author had these great words of wisdom about developing a sustainable budget;
Create buckets for different goals. Have different accounts for different, necessary purposes;
- An account for emergencies because you never know when your car is going to break down or when you have an unexpected health emergency.
- A ‘turn up’ account because we work hard so we can play hard. Otherwise, you’ll be setting yourself up for overspending, which will jeopardize your financial freedom in the long run. (This could be for shopping, traveling, anything that makes you happy). Planning for it means you spend mindfully and within a budget, instead of impulsively.
- An account for rent because it’s easy to procrastinate and wait three or four months before trouble looks for you and then start panicking and borrowing. It’s always better to have an account dedicated to this that you put aside systematically each month (this works for school fees as well).
- An investment account because there’s no point in working hard, year after year, earning so much, spending it all and then your net worth ain’t even up to a quarter of your annual income. It’s best to systematically put aside a proportion of your salary toward building assets that will earn you an income.
- An account for bills because paying bills is quite expensive— this covers food, domestic staff’s salaries, transport costs, etc.
3. Develop a Sustainable Budget
One of the biggest issues people complain about when it comes to their money is not knowing how to save or budget. People associate the word “budget” with scarcity or a reduction in the station of life. Therefore, “budget” is a word they come to resent.
The reality is, a budget is something that tells you how to allocate your resources and it should reflect what you value. So if I looked at your bank statement, would it reflect that you are spending on the things you love or would it be a reflection of the fact that you don’t spend intentionally and allow your money to be pulled in different directions?
The reason most people live paycheck to paycheck is that they don’t have a full understanding of what their income can support. Money in the bank is equal to spending. It doesn’t matter whether you earn ten thousand or ten million naira a month, your resources are limited and consumption rises with income, so it’s important to have a spending plan that takes that into consideration.
So here is the trick for guilt-free spending: the smart money budget!
The smart money budget
The smart money budget is a way of allocating your resources. Firstly, divide your income into three parts:
- Long-term financial goals
- Short-term financial goals
- Living expenses
Long-term financial goals (LFG): At a minimum of twenty percent of your income, it represents a proportion set aside towards improving your net worth, i.e. buying assets that will provide you with an income. Good examples are towards purchases like land, property or a stock portfolio.
Short-term financial goals (SFG): The proportion of your income set aside for treats — a Chanel bag, an iPhone, or a luxury holiday; whatever tickles your fancy. Living expenses: Your monthly contribution to your rent, health insurance, cable/satellite television, petrol, service charge etc.
Here are two examples of how differing incomes might look distributing a salary.
Claire’s Monthly income= $3,000,000
- LFG (20%) = $600,000
- SFG (10%) = $300,000
- Living expenses (70%) = $2,100,000
Floy’s Monthly income= $600, 000
- LFG (20%) = $120,000
- SFG (10%) = $60,000
- Living expenses (70%) = $420,000
Another budget methodology: The Approach of Dave Ramsey
On the flip side, you can adopt Dave Ramsey (renowned financial guru) strategy also. For him an awesome saving can be achieved thus;
- Charitable Giving: 10%
- Savings: 10%
- Food: 10%–15%
- Utilities: 5%–10%
- Housing: 25%
- Transportation: 10%
- Medical/Health: 5%–10%
- Insurance: 10%–25%
- Recreation: 5%–10%
- Personal Spending: 5%–10%
- Miscellaneous: 5%–10%2
4. TRACK YOUR EXPENSES
Most people don’t know where the money they earn goes. What percentage of your income goes to food? Transportation? Clothes? Just like in any successful business where you track the revenue and costs periodically, it is also important to track the expenses in our personal lives.
Some people have no idea how much their lifestyle costs. They may not spend recklessly, but they subconsciously develop a habit of spending—good or bad. If you don’t treat the money you earn with respect, it will leave you with no respect. You have to learn to spend with intention by allocating your resources to reflect the lifestyle you want and are able to sustainably afford.
This all starts with having a clear idea of where the money is going in the first place. You have to give up the excuses and learn to control money instead of letting money control you.
Practical Steps to Track your Spending
- Write down everything you spent your income on in the last month. This will give you good ideas of how you are spending money and help you identify areas to cut or increase.
- Review your bank statements from the last twelve months.
- Separate your findings into wants and needs. Limit your wants and prioritise your needs.
- Identify three to five things to cut each month that would make a significant impact. Review what you are spending on things like your phone calls and food because these are examples of things that are important but we tend to spend on mindlessly. Assess your spending in these areas and set spending limits.
- Spend on the things you love and cut expenses ruthlessly in the things that don’t matter to you.
5. Invest, Invest, Invest!
The essence of saving in the first place is so you can invest all that money. Recall that our savings are not intended to solve our emergencies but SOLELY for investing, simply, reproducing our hard saved money.
Before you invest, have an idea of credible investments you can channel your monies into. Ask very intense questions too. Don’t just throw your monies around.
Investment Ideas:
Credible, more rewarding but high-risk investments can prove worthwhile in the long run. These investments include;
- Stocks
- Real Estate
- Forex trading
- Mutual Bonds
- Treasury Bills
- Cryptocurrency
However, before you invest, you want to ask some deep questions to double-check your investors’ know what they’re doing.
In addition, you’ll need this deep rules to guide your decision;
- establish your investment goals
- develop an investment strategy;
- pick an investment firm.
Conclusion
Finally, to grow your savings, follow trusted wealth creators. I strongly recommend you read Arese Agwu on her Smart Money series and George Clason in his epic Richest Man in Babylon.
The most important thing you’ll need though, is your discipline, your resilience and all your POSITIVE mindset.
Whatever you do though, don’t stop saving, don’t stop working at being the next BILLIONAIRE! Cheers to creating wealth.
