Author Topic: Automatic Investments/Savings  (Read 4638 times)

ichangedmyname

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Automatic Investments/Savings
« on: March 31, 2014, 08:48:34 PM »
I have my accounts set up to automatically debit money on certain dates from my checking to go to my tIRA, Index Fund and savings accounts. I don't think I'm the only one doing this around here. I set it up to automatically transfer so I don't "forget" to. How do you set it up? Because now I have them debiting in different days that I always have to log in to check to make sure I have enough money in there.

How do you keep track of this?

MDM

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Re: Automatic Investments/Savings
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2014, 09:58:01 PM »
Quicken.  Any of the other usual suspects in this field could also work.

Any automated bank transfers are set up in Quicken as well, so we can always look out a few weeks to ensure the checking balance will stay positive.

Simply looking ahead whenever we write a check or enter an upcoming automated transfer is probably sufficient, but for the belt+suspenders approach we also have a monthly calendar reminder to check the status.  We don't have to (and don't) check daily.

LisaCO

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Re: Automatic Investments/Savings
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2014, 10:37:00 PM »
I set them up so all the money comes out on paydays.  It's almost like having a payroll deduction. The money is barely in my checking account.

rescuedog

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Re: Automatic Investments/Savings
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2014, 12:05:57 PM »
I have my accounts set up to automatically debit money on certain dates from my checking to go to my tIRA, Index Fund and savings accounts. I don't think I'm the only one doing this around here. I set it up to automatically transfer so I don't "forget" to. How do you set it up? Because now I have them debiting in different days that I always have to log in to check to make sure I have enough money in there.

How do you keep track of this?

How do you keep track of what's in your checking so that when the auto withdrawals happen you don't run wrack up overdraft fees?

Do you get paid every two weeks?  You could pick a date after all your month's paychecks are put in.  This way all your known income is in, and then do all your known expenses after the income is in.  Hopefully you're not in the red when it's all said and done!

Or give up one month of savings, so that you always have a cushion in your checking.  Instead of worrying about dates and if there is enough (which one day you will forget) try to get a cushion of money in there so one less thing to worry about.
« Last Edit: April 01, 2014, 12:27:55 PM by rescuedog »

phred

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Re: Automatic Investments/Savings
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2014, 12:11:12 PM »
I keep/leave an extra pay period's worth of money in the account to act as a buffer.  That way if payday is late for who knows why I am still covered

Gen Y Finance Journey

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Re: Automatic Investments/Savings
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2014, 12:17:14 PM »
I set them up so all the money comes out on paydays.  It's almost like having a payroll deduction. The money is barely in my checking account.

This is what I do as well (though just to be safe I schedule the transfers the day after payday). I know the money will be there on the day of the automatic transfer because it was just deposited there.

Runge

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Re: Automatic Investments/Savings
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2014, 02:16:11 PM »
I'm a huge advocate for YNAB. Budgeting may not be for everyone, but it has certainly helped me. For all my my auto debits, I have a separate category for each. Each month I'll budget that amount to those categories, essentially earmarking those $$ for those specific auto debits. Since I based my spending off of my budget category balances and not my account balances, I can guarantee that money will be there when the auto debit hits.

www.youneedabudget.com if you're interested.

ETA: Also, Jesse, creator of YNAB, is going on the Ecuador trip with MMM.
« Last Edit: April 01, 2014, 02:17:50 PM by Runge »

SpinGeek

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Re: Automatic Investments/Savings
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2014, 01:45:38 PM »
I definitely appreciate the YNAB philosophy, so I have a month's buffer in my checking account, more or less. That said, I'm too much of an accountant to be happy with YNAB's "blind spots" when it comes to non-cash and investment accounts. Everything goes in Quicken, with automatic transactions set up as scheduled entries. I just check them quickly against the bank website every week when I empty my home inbox, pay bills, etc.

ZiziPB

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Re: Automatic Investments/Savings
« Reply #8 on: April 02, 2014, 02:29:13 PM »
Can you have the amounts direct deposited from your paycheck instead, with the remainder going into your checking account?  Most employers will allow spliting the pay into multiple direct deposits.

 

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