Good Old Saving

Saving has been unpopular for years because the interest rate was low for years. Even deposits had interest rate of 1 percent or lower. Nowadays the interest is up again with the risky banks having an interest of 4 percent or more and deposit being between 2-4 percent depending on the years of the deposit. The interest rates are now worthwhile, because with saving there is a lower risk on the money saved than on the money invested in shares, crowdfunding, bonds, etc. In my investing mix there is money going to my savings accounts.

'Potjes' Saving

At a lot of banks it is possible to open a lot of savings accounts connected to my current account. This makes it easy to save money for groceries, cloths, vacation, moving, etc. With this kind of saving accounts I can set the amount I want to save, and a percentage meter tells me how well I am doing on saving for my goal. By doing this a goal like a vacation or something else can be reached easier than just saving without a goal.

Why Have A Buffer?

Before the COVID-19 lockdowns Nibud was telling me to have a buffer of 3 months. I can honestly say I had savings for about 6 months and that wasn't even enough for the lockdowns. I was lucky that the government decided to help also the 'zzp'ers', because at first this wasn't the plan. I know now that I want to have a buffer of 1 year. By having a buffer of 1 year I can transform my business easier to the situation and I probably won't need to dig deep into my investment and 'zzp'-pension. The 'zzp'-pension I had and am setting up again I want to use for a 'Tussenpensioenen', my 'AOW'-gap and to retire earlier. I have to work till I am 70. By making a pension buffer I can lower my hours gradually by using my buffer this is called Fire. I wrote the blog 'When am I fire', when researching how I can be in the lead when to retire and how to retire.  Before the lockdowns I already had 3 'Tussenpensioenen'. I wrote in the blog ‘Sabbatical’ about them.

How Not To Touch Savings

The best way to not touch my savings is:

• having a goal for my saving

•  by putting part of my saving in a deposit

• opening a saving account at a bank where I don't have a current account.

To get the money form a deposit or from a saving account where I don't have a current account, I must make an effort to get the money which makes me think if I really want to get the money for something that wasn't the savings goal. This makes it easier for me to leave this money most of the time there to grow.