Learning how to put your money on autopilot isn’t that difficult but requires a commitment to change. Creating the right system that helps you make the appropriate financial moves is more important than budgeting and implementing the best investment strategies. Let’s explore how to make this possible by considering the most important steps to automatic finances.
Consider Automating Your Savings
One of the ways you can begin saving more money is to automate the process. Dedicating a percentage of your monthly income to a savings account will help you create an emergency fund for a rainy day. If you’re trying to pay off your debts, you can dedicate this savings account to make extra payments toward it each month.
If you’ve already created a separate emergency fund, you can use this savings account to fund your next life goals, such as buying a house or financing your wedding. You can also automatically transfer money between your current and savings accounts to ensure you utilize your monthly income as soon as possible before spending it.
Consider Automating Your Bills
You will likely have fixed bills to pay each month, such as your rent or mortgage, or student loan repayments. These should be prioritized as automatic bill payments once you start earning a steady income.
You can earn rewards by using your rewards credit card, paying through your bank’s online BillPay and a bank draft. Credit cards offer many perks and rewards, but you should ensure you don’t get charged a convenience fee for some payments, like rent.
Online BillPay allows you to have greater control over several bills through one platform, which is highly convenient. Auto drafts require you to set up an agreement with your biller so they can automatically withdraw the agreed amount of money from your account. However, auto drafts come with some concerns, such as redundant maintenance and less control, which is something to consider when looking to automate your bills effectively.
Consider Automating Your Investments
After automating your savings and bill payments, you can automate your investments. If you’re looking to build your wealth, you can do so by putting part of your income toward automatic investments.
For example, you don’t need much investment knowledge to begin this process. You can take the right steps by considering different approaches like dollar cost averaging and preventing self-sabotage.
You can set up a separate investment account and dedicate a portion of your savings toward it, allowing you to invest in stocks, investing partner companies, precious metals, and a whole bunch of other places. You can hire an investment consultant who can provide insights into the best investment options with low to medium risk.
Putting your money on autopilot gives you mental peace because you no longer have to think about where your money is going. Once you’ve automated your bills, savings, and investments, you have more mental energy to dedicate to things that are more important to you.