Saving for Success in 2025 With Future Scholar

It’s 2025! Set Yourself Up for Savings Success

A brand-new year means a new opportunity to set goals that will enrich your life. What would you like to achieve in 2025? Do you want to learn a new skill? Get in more workouts? Clean out that junk drawer? Whatever you choose, be sure to make room for an important goal that will enhance life for you and your family – a successful savings goal. 

These 5 steps will help you set savings goals that while somewhat challenging – are easily attainable.

Step #1 – Get Motivated

Begin by focusing on the big picture. Consider which areas motivate you to save, such as the ones below:

• Retirement – Do you want to have funds to help you enjoy your golden years? Or, perhaps, you’d like to retire early!
• Your child’s college education –Is giving your child the gift of entering adulthood debt-free important to you?
• Time off from work – Would you like to travel to visit relatives and friends? Or do you want time off to see the world?
  
  Your prime motivations will help you uncover the willpower that will help you reach your savings goals. By finding your personal motivation, you won’t be chasing a number in a bank account – you’ll be pursuing a dream.

Step #2 - Get SMART!

When setting your savings goals, remember to follow the SMART acronym. Make your goals

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Timely

It’s particularly important to make your goals specific and measurable. Rather than saying you want to save some money for your child’s college education, affix a dollar amount to the savings goal. And instead of leaving the goal timeline open-ended, set an end date for accomplishing it. You can easily modify your savings goals if at any time you need or want to change them.

Step #3 – Take Small Bites

If you have a toddler scooting around your house, it can feel intimidating to think about saving for a college education that’s years down the road. You may be wondering to yourself: Where do I even begin?

Whether you’re down the road or setting aside cash to buy a new car in several months, it helps to break larger savings goals up into small, digestible parts.

For a long-term goal such as funding a college education, set smaller savings goals of three-, five-, 10-, and 15-years to keep you tracking toward the finish line. Not only does this make the goal feel more attainable, but it also gives you more chances to celebrate your progress along the way!

Step #4 – Make it Automatic

No matter how excited you are to set out on your savings journey, it’s human nature to have your enthusiasm wane as time passes. Automating the savings process can help prevent a lack of enthusiasm from slowing your progress.

For example, if you save for college with South Carolina’s Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan, you can set up recurring payments that automatically draft contributions from your bank account. Combine that with an age-based investment strategy, and your portfolio automatically adjusts as your child gets older. It’s a hands-off approach that will make it easier to stick to your savings plan and reach your goal.

Step #5 - Reward Yourself

Celebrate being a successful and smart saver! Every few months, take the time to review your progress, and if you’re on track, reward yourself with something special. It could be a special date night with your significant other, a new pair of shoes, or anything that motivates you to continue on. For larger accomplishments – such as meeting a 10-year savings goal - you could plan something bigger like a weekend getaway.

Future Scholar Can Help You Reach Your Savings Goals

If saving for college is one of your goals, the Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan offers South Carolinians three different ways to invest through the Direct plan:

• Age-Based- Follow an investment strategy that’s based on the number of years remaining before your child is expected to enroll in college.
• Target-Allocation- Choose from seven different target-allocation portfolios that range from aggressive to conservative investments.
• Single-fund- Customize your portfolio by selecting different offerings, each of which invests in a single underlying fund.
  
  
  

If you have not already done so, open a Future Scholar 529 College Savings Account today and take a positive first step toward accomplishing your new savings goal of funding your child’s college education!