Women's Money Week - 5 Tips To Make Saving and Investing Easier

This post is part of the Women's week series to educate women on personal finance. Today's topic is Saving and Investing. Check out my 5 tips to saving and investing.

1. Educate yourself
Don't solely depend on a financial planner to manage your money, be in control of your money and know exactly where it's going. I recently fired my financial planner because I was making more money on my investments that I was managing myself, then I was on my investments that she was managing. Read investment books,(any of Warren Buffet books are great reads) learn about different saving accounts,(premium savings accounts, TFSA's etc.) RRSP's, Mutual Funds and GIC's.

2. Start small
You may be thinking you don't have enough money to save, especially if you keep hearing people say they are saving 10, 15 or 20% of their pay. You don't have to start that high. Save what you can because every little bit counts. If you could only afford to save $10 every pay, save $10. This is really about your behavior, not the amount. If you could get into the habit of saving $10, it will be that much easier for you to save $100 or even $1000 per pay paycheck.

3. Separate your checking and your savings account
Using your checking account to save is probably not the best idea. Have a separate account that is strictly for savings. This will help to track the amount your saving over time and it will help to keep you more organized with your savings.

4. Make it automatic
Set up automatic withdrawals from your checking account to your savings account. You can set up withdrawals weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. I would suggest setting the frequency of your automatic withdrawls to match your pay check. If it automatically comes out, you don't have to remember to transfer money to your savings account, you can just set it up and forget about it.

5. Take advantage of any stock options or RRSP matching option your company offers
If your company is giving you free investment options, take advantage of it! Some companies offer stock options where they may match up to 3-6%, or they may have matching RRSP options. Find out what your options are and start investing TODAY!

Suggested websites for investing
www.globeinvestor.com
www.valueline.com
www.morningstar.com
www.morningstar.com/advisor