Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Matt, it's Matt McClure here. And you know, a lot of those New Year's resolutions now that springtime has sprung, a lot of those New Year's resolutions that we made beginning of the year, especially regarding our finances, well, those have gone by the wayside. And now though, it's a good time as you're, you know, cleaning out your junk drawer, your physical junk drawer, let's clean out that financial junk drawer as well. Do a little spring cleaning for your finances. Kind of re up on those, recommit to those New Year's resolutions that we made back when. Well, now is a good time to do that. As it is, America Saves Week, which is focused on saving and encouraging people to save, giving people resources to save their money. Well, right now I am speaking with Robin Growley. She is head of consumer deposits at bank of America and she's also kind of their savings and budgeting guru there. Robin, how are you?
[00:00:51] Speaker B: Wonderful. How are you today?
[00:00:53] Speaker A: Wonderful. I really appreciate your time. I think that a lot of times people think of saving as this sort of big overwhelming task, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that, right?
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Oh, you're absolutely right. I mean, we hear that for many of our customers, they have such great intentions and they really want to save, but getting started becomes a barrier because they think about they've got to save this big number. Right. And we always say, you know, don't be overwhelmed by it. Right. Let's take that bigger goal that you have and break it down into smaller short term goals. And you know, maybe if you want to save $1,000 in six months or whatever it is, take and let's start by saving. Put away 10 dol a week. And once you have that shorter term goal set and you're starting to make progress, that really helps you build momentum and then savings becomes a habit.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And I think one of the things that I at least have found in my life that has helped me start to save and even invest some as well, but especially on the saving front is just kind of automation, you know, sort of like using technology to kind of do it for me and then I don't have to think about it. Is that something that you encourage folks to do?
[00:02:03] Speaker B: Absolutely. The more that you can automate as it relates to savings, the better you're going to be. I always like to say find those tools where you can set it and forget it. So at bank of America we have our Keep the Change tool, which automatically rounds up your debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and then it transfers the change from your checking account to your savings account. So that happens behind the scenes. You don't, you know, need to take action. You don't need to put it on your to do list every day. It's automatic. And again, you can kind of set that and forget it, and it helps build your savings.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: Great. Set it and forget it. I love that. And then what are maybe some other common kind of pitfalls that people fall into? You know, we talked about kind of just being overwhelmed sort of overall by the goal. The overall goal of saving more or maybe having this huge number in their head and just sort of being discouraged by the whole thing. We talked about that. We talked about the automation part of it and just sort of getting it off your plate. But what are maybe some other sort of common pitfalls that maybe people got started that they get tripped up with in their saving journey?
[00:03:04] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, one of the things we see quite often is that folks keep dipping into their savings. And the reason that's happening is quite often we'll have, you know, our customers have their checking account, and they're starting to keep their savings within their checking account. Right. So as they're out there and they have, you know, maybe their grocery bills a little bit more than what they expected to spend, well, it's pretty easy. It's all in the same account just to use what your savings, you know, to use your savings to pay that. And what we encourage instead is set up that separate savings account. That way your funds are going to a dedicated place for your. Your larger goal. Right. And with that, as you start to keep your funds in that separate account, you're able to see them grow. And then again, that builds momentum. It makes you feel good, it makes you feel motivated. And then also I say if you're saving for, you know, your goal with that account, call it something that's meaningful. Right. So if you're going on a vacation this summer, that's what you're saving for. Name it. Vacation 2025. That' make you kind of stop and think twice before withdrawing funds from that account.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Keep everything, you know, labeled and organized in that way. I think that that's very helpful as well. I love a good label on things, you know, physically and kind of, you know, virtually where my. Where my money is too. So that's great. And then, you know, I mean, also, I feel like a big thing for a lot of people today. I mean, we've seen the stats over the past couple of years especially, you know, showing that People are in a lot of consumer debt here lately. And, you know, trying to get out of debt is a big goal as well for a lot of people. But how do you sort of balance that, you know, the paying down your debt with also putting some in savings?
[00:04:39] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Well, the good news is that you can do both, right? And you know, everyone is in a different kind of financial position. But in general, I always like to use the 50, 30, 20 rule where 50% of your income goes towards necessity. So think about rent, utilities, debt payment, 30% goes towards your wants. These are things that make our life more comfortable. Right? Like buying the latte, going out to dinner with your friends, and then 20% goes to saving. So that gives you some general guidelines to ensure that as you look at your inflows and your outflows, you're kind of budgeting within those parameters. And now certainly as life changes, we might have to flex it a little bit. But always make sure that you have, you know, the 20% dedicated to your savings. And within that 50%, as you're paying down your debt, make sure that you're making that minimum monthly payment on your debt.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. Definitely very important there. Well, Robin, just about time for us to start wrapping up here anyway. But anything else that you wanted to touch on that we haven't mentioned just yet that comes to mind?
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I would just say, you know, this is America Saves Week where we are focused on saving for your past, present and future. And certainly as your listeners need more tips and tools, they can visit americasavesweek.org americasavesweek.org easy enough.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: Robin Growley with Bank of America. Thank you so much. Always appreciate talking to you and thankful for your time.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Thank you. Take care.
