Focus Your Finances on the Future

It’s hard for people to focus on future savings when their present state of finances is constantly being disrupted by the financial events taking place throughout the last few years. Unfortunately, the reality is that many Americans don’t have adequate pre-retirement income. Even though the present demands a lot of your attention, there are still several things you can do to help grow your future nest egg:

View budgeting as a long-term exercise. Instead of just budgeting year-to-year, consider how your income may be affected in future years.

Don’t let emergencies throw you off course. Allot a certain amount of your savings specifically to emergencies, so that you aren’t completely wiped out when something unexpected happens.

Don’t be discouraged by setbacks. Sudden changes in interest rates and the stock market make it difficult to want to invest sometimes. But when things like that happen, it just proves how important it is to have your savings built up.

Don’t chase past returns. Instead of focusing on what happened in the past, keep your eye on the future and try to anticipate what is going to happen.

Don’t lose perspective. Mortgage rates are a good example of this. In June 2013, 30-year mortgage rates ended a run of over a year and half of being under 4%. Before that, they hadn’t been under 4% in over 40 years.

For more information on how to keep your eye on long-term savings, please visit Fox Business.