Double Your Savings Using The Power Of Compound Interest

Double Your Savings Calculator Example

Embedded Example of this Double Your Savings Calculator

Why Americans Don’t Save Money

Personal finance also helps you make better savings and investment decisions because it focuses on your goals. Your budget (or spending plan) should be built around your day-to-day expenses, including your short-range lifestyle and financial goals. These may include your goals for your family's well-being, shelter, food, clothing, and recreation. It should also provide for future personal lifestyle and financial goals as well.

Savings and investments should be used to match your short-, intermediate-, and long-range financial goals. You save and invest for a purpose, not just to accumulate great wealth. In fact, you save and invest for many purposes, and how you save and invest depend upon the purpose. For example, if you need to replace a household appliance costing a few hundred dollars in the next 12-18 months, you will save differently than you would if you were saving to pay for a child's education in 10-15 years. To make these decisions, you need to understand the relationship among investment risk, time horizon, and investment reward.

How Close Are You to Being a Millionaire?

Perhaps you have heard of the miracle of compounding. Innumerable investors have used it to their advantage to make their money grow faster than would be the case with simple interest. The great thing about compounding is that it doesn't require additional work on your part: you just sit back and watch your money grow. How's that for an investment strategy?

There are two basic types of interest: simple and compound. Simple interest is the amount of interest earned on the original amount of money invested. Simple interest is paid out as it is earned and does not become part of an account's interest-bearing balance. The invested amount is called principal. Let's say you invest $100 (the principal) at a yearly interest rate of 5 percent. Multiplying the principal by the interest rate gives you an interest payment of $5. This is your simple interest. The next year and each year thereafter, you will be paid $5 of interest on the principal of $100.