IF YOU have an emergency experts say there should be at least $10,000 in the bank as a contingency fund.
But with that concept being a dream for many, the thought of having an emergency stash on top of other savings can be daunting and overwhelming.
One wealth expert says it doesn’t have to be, and has shared his tips on how to not only get that chuck tucked away, but to do it pretty quickly.
Jackson Millan, a wealth education expert and business adviser, says you have to define your surplus by completing a personal profit and loss statement and not a budget.
“A budget presupposes you are going to take all the joy out of life, eat Cornflakes for dinner and you are unlikely to stick to the course,” he explains.
“A personal profit and loss is a lifestyle decision to understand what your life costs and what should be left over at the end of the week.
“Take your surplus off the table immediately and pay yourself first. Don’t wait until after you spend to save.
“You should be saving first and living on what is left.”
Mr Millan, who runs The Wealth Mentor, says assuming you have a surplus of $12,000 a year in your personal profit and loss, set up an automatic transfer into an unlinked account you don’t have access to online or via card on payday.
That should already get you to $3000 in 90 days.
“Sell stuff you don’t need or haven’t used in the last six months, whether that be clothes, electronics, unwanted gifts from Aunt Penny,” he says.
“Chuck it all on eBay or Gumtree and I am certain you have at least $3000 lying around. We are now two thirds of the way there.”
Mr Millan also recommends getting a “side hustle” together.
“Think about all of the things you are good at or have experience or education in and start a small service consulting side hustle,” he said.
“Whether that be teaching another language, tutoring school kids, providing IT support or personal development coaching, there is an abundance of side hustle opportunities that even include driving Uber that will help kick start your savings.
“This equates to only needing to make around $360 per week (assuming you are putting aside 30 per cent on average for tax).
“Now you have your savings, keep up the momentum — consider looking into some micro investing apps that allow you to get access to diversified portfolios to help compounding start to work its magic.
“We advocate you set up a weekly automatic contribution and review it every three months to consider increasing it.
“We are creatures of habit and by making continued small increases we will continue to adapt our lifestyle accordingly.”
Mr Millan says assuming you only put in $500 per month at a conservative 5 per cent return for 10 years, you would have more than $77,000.
He says all you need to do is ask yourself honestly if you believe you can afford $17 a day in savings.
“Most people over-estimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in 10,” he says.
“The aim of the game is to start to understand the language of money and make it work for you, not the other way around.”
