Looking forward to a pay raise? Why wait? Give yourself one. Smart saving and investing could give you the extra income you’ve been hoping for, or at the very least, offer a new perspective on earning a little extra dough.
Be Smart with Your Extra Cash
Investing isn’t just for the well-off or those with a deep understanding of the market. It’s for anyone aiming to make their money work harder. By exploring options that offer more earning potential than what’s typical of traditional savings accounts, you can start to see how a few easy choices could make a big difference.
Money Making Moves
Higher Yields: Look for opportunities that can surpass the average savings account. With higher interest rates in recent years, it’s not unrealistic to earn rates over 5%, even on low-risk investments.*
Regular Income Streams: Investments with regular interest payments or dividends are great for those looking to boost their income. The magic of compounding can make a big impact on your investments balance in the long run.
Flexibility and Security: Opting for investments you can liquidate without penalties offers peace of mind as well as accessibility. Moreover, choosing options that can guard against inflation and/or are backed by credible entities helps to ensure your investment’s safety and purchasing power over time.
Decide the Best Way to Boost Your Income
While savings accounts offer ease and security, they often fall short on growth potential. An alternative such as T-Bill ETFs, can provide the yield, flexibility, and security essential for your well-deserved “raise”.
Crunch the Numbers
Imagine you want to earn an extra $1,000 of income over the course of a year through smarter saving and investing. If you find an opportunity that offers a 5% return annually, you might wonder, “How much do I need to invest to achieve this goal?”
The math is pretty straightforward: If you want to earn $1,000 from an investment that returns 5% per year, you would need to invest $20,000. Here’s how it works:
To find out how much you need to invest to get that $1,000 from a 5% return, you divide the amount you want to earn ($1,000) by the return rate (5% or 0.05). If you want to earn $2,000 in annual income from a 5% return, you would need to invest $40,000 ($2,000 / 0.05).
Now, you might be thinking, “I don’t have $20,000 lying around!” And that’s perfectly okay. The beauty of investing is that you don’t need to start with a large sum. You can begin with much less and gradually build your way up!
Starting Small and Growing Over Time
Even if you don’t have $20,000 to invest right away, you can start with a smaller amount and contribute to your account regularly. For example, if you can save $100 from each paycheck, simply set that aside in your investment(s) of choice. Over time, these contributions will add up, and thanks to compounding interest, your investment could grow faster than you might expect.
Here’s where Beanstox comes in handy: With Beanstox, you can automatically set this money aside for your investment account, making it easier than ever to stay consistent with your recurring investments. This automation takes the hassle out of manually transferring funds and ensures you’re steadily working towards your investment goals.
The key takeaway here is not the amount you start with but the habit of consistently investing and letting your money work for you. This approach is a practical way to give yourself a raise, leveraging what savings you do have to generate additional income over time. Check out the Beanstox Power Savings account to learn more.
*Disclosures:
5% based on the 30-day SEC yield of the Beanstox short-duration bond portfolio ETF constituents. The 30-day SEC yield is a standard metric defined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and reflects the dividends and interest earned during the period after the deduction of the ETF’s expenses. There are no assurances that this yield will be sustainable in the future. This product invests in one or more ETFs. Results may vary due to expenses and other factors.