Saving & Emergency
Savings goals and making them stick
Named, specific, automated and visible goals are saved for; vague intentions are not.
Saving & Emergency
How much, where to keep it, and when to spend it.
Saving & Emergency
Financial resilience: what it actually means
Resilience is the capacity to absorb a shock without lasting damage, and it is built from a small number of components.
Saving & Emergency
What happens to money when you die
The documents are inexpensive, the absence of them is expensive, and several assets do not pass under a will at all.
Saving & Emergency
Building savings on a low income
Small amounts genuinely matter, the support available is under-claimed, and standard advice frequently does not apply.
Saving & Emergency
Planning for a big purchase
The decision to finance or save changes the total cost substantially, and the calculation takes ten minutes.
Saving & Emergency
Starting to invest, and when not to
The order of operations matters more than the choice of investment, and several things should come first.
Saving & Emergency
Insurance you need and insurance you do not
Insure what you could not absorb and self-insure what you could, which eliminates most of what is sold.
Saving & Emergency
Saving with children and teaching money
Financial habits form earlier than most parents realise, and the effective teaching is practical rather than instructional.
Saving & Emergency
Sinking funds and planning for predictable costs
Most financial emergencies are not emergencies at all — they are predictable costs that nobody budgeted for.
Saving & Emergency
Saving for a house deposit
The deposit is one part of the cost, the schemes vary enormously, and the timeframe determines where the money should sit.
Saving & Emergency
Where to keep short-term savings
Default accounts pay poorly, the differences compound, and the right product depends on when you need the money.
Saving & Emergency
How much emergency fund you actually need
The standard answer is a range rather than a number, and the first small amount matters more than the eventual target.