SAVINGS TIPS AND INSIGHTS FORA HEALTHY FINANCIALFUTUREJust Under HalfofAmericansThink They’re Saving Enough Money to Achieve Their Financial Goals.
April Schneider, Financial Expert & Head of Consumer and Small Business Products, Bank of America America Saves Week is in full swing, and Bank of America is encouraging people around the country to make a commitment to save at AmericaSavesWeek.org. Just 49%of Americans believe they’re saving enough to achieve their financial goals—there’s never been a better time to examine your savings behavior and commit to a healthy financial future.
April Schneider, Head of Consumer and Small Business Products at Bank of America, will share tips and insights to help make your financial goals a reality, whether you’re just starting to save or hoping to build on existing financial habits
INSIGHTS &TIPS:
- Save with a plan: A smart savings strategy should incorporate a budget and goals. If you need a refresher on budgeting tips, visit Better Money Habits, Bank of America’sonline financial education platform. Setting short or long-term goals can help motivate you to stick with saving and inform your strategy. The most common savings goals for Americans are: preparing for retirement (46%), increasing their savings (46%), saving for a vacation (40%)and building an emergency fund (36%).
- Plan for retirement: Just 54% of Americans think they’ll be able to save enough to retire someday. Create a realistic retirement savings goal by talking to a financial advisor, who can develop a retirement strategy with you, accounting for your lifestyle, goals, location and more.
- Open a savings account: When you’re first starting to save, opening a savings account is one of the most important actions you can take to secure your financial future. It allows you to earn interest while keeping your money safe and accessible. When evaluating your account options, ask the right questions: Are there account fees? What’s the initial deposit requirement? Is the account compatible with financial apps?
- Use automatic savings tools:49% of Americans use automatic savings programs to make saving simple and consistent. There are many great automatic savings tools out there. For example, Bank of America’s Keep the Change program automatically rounds up your debit card purchases to the nearest dollar amount and transfers the change from your checking account to your savings account.
- Save when you spend: Consider applying fora credit card that lets you earn rewards on purchases and use those rewards as a savings tool. For example, if your credit card gives you cash back, you may be able to set up automatic transfers so that whenever you reach a certain rewards balance, such as $25, it is deposited directly into your savings account.
More About April Schneider
April Schneider is the head of Consumer and Small BusinessProducts at Bank of America. Her team is responsible for delivering the products and services that help Bank of America’s66million consumer and 3.5 million small business clients meet their financial goals. Schneider’s team consists of approximately 800 employees across the country.
Schneider and team are focused on providing clients with a full range of convenient and innovative financial products and services. They are responsible for growing Bank of America’s $700 billion in consumer and small business deposits and $95 billion in outstanding credit card balances. This includes the development, pricing and management of consumer deposit, debit and credit card, first mortgage, home equity, vehicle lending, GWIM banking, and small business banking solutions.
Schneider has worked in the consumer products space for more than 20 years. Since 2007, she has held a number of leadership positions at Bank of America including Products and Pricingexecutive, Mortgage and Home Equity Products executive, Pricing and Portfolio Management, Capital Markets and SecondaryMarketing.
Schneider holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from HiramCollege and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of South Carolina. She serves as a Market Sponsor for Tucson, AZ, Executive Sponsor the bank’s Parent Care Network and currently leads the advisory board for BAI Research.
