What if you were a tree? No, hear me out. What if you were a little tree (very small)? The tree farmer planted you and decided to come back tomorrow and see how you had developed into a huge tree. You would be 40 or 50 feet tall, right?

No. But that is the way most people hope their saving and investing will be.

Put in a little money and – ta da! – your rich!

You’ve seen where they cut open an old tree and the rings are exposed showing the growth from young tree to big tree. Think about the rings in a tree like that. Say the tree had been around for thirty-five years. What would you expect to find?

Yet, some people don’t expect that they have to feed savings every time they get a paycheck. They think you don’t have to invest month after month. And you know what? They’re wrong.

2010 is a great year to wake up. It is a great year to recommit yourself to your family and to building those rings.

If you don’t have a real emergency savings fund for 2010 (15 to 18 months of expenses in savings), start. Do it today.

Begin with our 1% Savings Plan. (See previous blog entries).

Learn all you can about your company policies relating to 401k and direct deposit. Check with HR about setting up a per paycheck amount that goes directly from your check into savings – not checking.

Keep in mind our rule for growing money in 2010:

Checking accounts are MONEY LAUNDERING ACCOUNTS for OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY. Use any excuse to get your money out. Every chance you get.

Want to grow your savings? Look for excuses to push money from checking to savings.

Set goals based upon percentage of your after tax income ---- not based upon how much you save.

You can make a huge comeback for your family in 2010. Believe it!

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com