When it comes to saving money, there are many different ways of doing it. Long gone are the days of storing your money under your mattress, and you could end up getting quite a large profit from investing it elsewhere. We do understand, however, that there are a lot of risky savings strategies out there, and you may not want to put your money into something unstable, where you could end up losing it all. Nobody wants to receive that email, telling you that the company you have stocks in has just gone bust. So, we’ve put together a guide so that you can assess your options, and see what you really want to do with your cash.

Open a savings account

One of the primary options that people look into is savings accounts, and this is a good idea if you want to keep your wealth firmly under your own control. However, when looking into this, you can see that the options are abundant, and it can be difficult to know which one to go for. This depends upon a number of factors: do you want access to your money whenever, for example, or would you like to keep it in an account with limited access for a period of 5, or even 10, years? This will all depend upon your financial situation; if this is money that you know you won’t need soon, even if there is an unexpected emergency, then keeping it in a limited access account is a good idea to keep your profits up.

One of the good things about savings accounts is that there are so many options out there, that you’ll more than likely be able to find what you really want. Many Americans have savings accounts, with the average amount of savings for high earners being $5,400, so this is a popular choice for many. There are accounts that require no minimum amount in order to open them, so $5 will be sufficient to get it started. You also won’t have to pay any monthly fees on most of the accounts, so whether you’ve put in $5 or $10,000, you won’t be paying anything to keep your account going. You’ll get monthly updates on how the interest on your account is going, and you’ll really be able to see your cash reserves grow, especially if you set up a monthly payment from your current account into your savings account. This is pretty much risk free, as most banks give you insurance on your money, up to a certain amount.

Should you forget savings all together?

In the modern age, a lot of people (especially those who are young, in an economic climate where savings aren’t really a possibility), just don’t bother with savings. Whilst older generations generally understand the importance of saving up for a rainy day, the lack of interest in saving up money in the current age may really make you think, ‘is it worth it?’ This is a difficult question to answer, but ultimately it depends upon your financial situation. If you think that you can really afford to put it away, then why not? However, feeling obliged to do it simply isn’t necessary, given the amount of financial help out there today.

We’re not saying that you should just go out there and get a massive loan, and disregard your finances altogether. Yet if you feel guilty about not having a nest egg, there are a lot of other options out there. You can even get financial assistance with bail bonds now (although we’re hoping you won’t have to, companies like Charlotte Bail Bonds, LLC offer this) and there are plenty of other ways of getting financial help without having to accrue a massive debt. Again, savings are great, and if you can do it, then we don’t blame you. But you may just be spending your money on your family, and giving them the best life that you can right now. Whilst thinking of the future is ideal, weigh everything up. Having $10,000 saved is not always necessary.

Investment and shares

Ok, this sounds like quite a daunting one, but you don’t have to be a character from Wolf of Wall Street to make investment work in your favor. Yes, you do have to be a bit financially savvy, but once you start looking into the world of finance, and follow the stock market (not religiously, but having an idea of it is important), you’ll be able to judge where the best place to invest your money really is. Investing in companies like Facebook would be (you would think) a pretty stable way to get some cash back, but smaller tech companies may be a better shout. One embarrassing moment for Zuckerberg, like the recent data scandals, can see your stock value plummet.

However, there are those companies that have been consistently giving people the best dividend payments on an annual basis; some paying out a profit to its shareholders for more than 20 years. If this all sounds like financial waffle to you, then what it basically means is that you buy shares in a company, and get a cut of their annual profit in a lump sum every year (although some may work on different time scales). If you’re going to do this, it may be an idea to look at buying shares in a few different companies, so that if there is a loss from one of them, the others are bound to make up for it, and you can change (or sell) your shares based upon this. Keeping variety is key; you could put all of your money into Facebook to find that a new tech company overtakes it next year.

So, there are many ways that you can save up your money, or you could simply go against the tide and decide that you don’t want to do it at all. Look into your options, and get the biggest profit possible if you’ve decided that it’s for you. Good luck!