“What is goal-based savings” is a common query of an investor exploring different ways of creating a well-planned financial strategy.
Goal-based savings refer to a savings plan that is exclusively created to fulfill a specific goal. These goals can have either long-term, mid-term, or short-term tenure.
Developing the habit of goal-based savings will help the investor focus on setting and fulfilling financial targets successfully.
It is an effective way of being smart about a target, pushing yourself towards that end goal through saving and investing, and ultimately making your financial dreams come true.
Goal-based savings can be anything from buying a house to purchasing a laptop or as simple as investing in an SIP every month through systematic and concentrated efforts.
With the Edufund App, you can set up goal-based savings for almost anything you desire because ours is a safe and secure investing platform that provides hassle-free and transparent savings options to fulfill the dream of every single investor.
Types of goals in goal-based savings
The goals in goal-based savings are based on their savings tenure and their value. The strategies involved in fulfilling them are quite different.
1. Long-Term Goals
Long-term goal-based savings refer to a savings plan that lasts for at least five or more years. These are the end goals of an investment and savings journey.
If an investor starts early, they can accumulate a substantial amount for their future with small savings. Investment vehicles to achieve long-term goals are real estate, mutual funds, and equity/shares.
Examples are retirement plans and saving for a child’s higher education.
2. Mid-Term Goals
Mid-term goals are savings plan that lasts for more than two years and less than five years. Investors find it expensive and difficult to save for these goals because the results hover between immediate and long-term.
Mid-term goals can be achieved by proper planning.
Investment vehicles to achieve mid-term goals are debt funds, fixed deposits, and gold investments.
Examples are car loans and down payments for buying a house.
3. Short-Term Goals
Short-term goals are savings plan that lasts for less than two years. These are repetitive, require disciplined efforts, and are meant for the immediate future.
Investment vehicles to achieve short-term goals are savings accounts, FDs, and debt mutual funds.
Examples – Vacation, jewelry, school fees, a new laptop.
With the Edufund app, you can choose any of these goal-based savings as the app has 4000+ mutual funds, digital gold investments, ELSS, ETFs, and US stocks. You can choose the appropriate investment vehicle to achieve your goal. It is a one-stop app to fulfill your aspirations for goal-based savings.
Additional read: Education inflation rate in India
How do achieve goal-based savings?
Step 1: Set SMART goals
The first step towards investing, saving, or wealth creation is identifying and setting up a need-based specific goal that will help the investor to move forward and work towards achieving it.
Set SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.
Step 2: Break it into achievable goals
Be specific while making your financial goals and ask yourself what goal-based savings is and fit them in one of these categories- long-term, mid-term, or short-term.
Remember, every goal has its own time horizon and demands discipline from the investor.
When the goals are vague, then it becomes difficult to focus on your approach; hence break down the bigger picture and convert it into small, measurable, and achievable goals.
Step 3: Make a budget
The investor has to know about their spending so that they can create a financial plan accordingly. Calculate your monthly payments and expenses to get a picture of how much money is left with you.
Determine the portion you want to use for savings. Create a budget and put aside the amount regularly, which will help you start investing.
Step 4: Invest wisely
Decide on an investment plan and vehicle according to your investment capability, and invest wisely if you want to continue with it for the whole tenure.
There are numerous investment schemes in the market, and it might create confusion. Take the help of reputed financial advisors like the ones at the Edufund app to know about investment opportunities in detail.
Step 5: Review and make periodic adjustments
Review and readjust the investments periodically to realign them with the current goals. Keep asking yourself if you have invested and saved as per your specific needs.
Goals change with time, and it is vital to make corrections along the way for a better financial future.
Conclusion
The desire for goal-based savings and investing helps an investor create a solid financial foundation that will lead to stability and financial wealth.
EduFund app offers numerous options through its different investment vehicles to achieve goal-based savings effectively.
