Did you know that you only need to know 4 simple things about personal finance? That is right. People convince themselves that managing their finances is difficult, but in reality it is very simple.

Let’s break personal finance down into its simplest parts. Personal finance is about,

-making money
-saving money
-investing your savings
-spending your money wisely once you retire.

Too often these people who convince themselves that personal finance is so complicated decide that they should not bother with it. Don’t make this mistake. Personal finance is simple and everyone needs to focus on it.

Now, I know that many will say, but aren’t there was that you can save money more wisely? Aren’t some things better to invest in than others? Absolutely!! However, as long as you are saving, planning for your retirement, and putting your savings to work for you in a high interest rate savings system of some kind, you are doing better than 75% of the rest of people.

Once you realize that personal finance is not that hard, you can move onto how to save money for retirement more wisely. That is where Smart Savings 101 comes in.

Smart Savings 101 is not about getting rich quick or finding that stock pick that is going to turn your one thousand dollars into one million dollars. Smart Savings 101 will explore how to save money, how to put your savings to work to make more savings, and how plan for when you actually do retire.

The first step in putting you money to work for you is learning how to find a high interest rate savings account. This is where you will put your money as soon as you earn it. This is will not be the investment vehicle that makes you the majority of your money, but it is vital to beginning your journey to financial freedom.

A high interest rate savings account can take many forms. Some people like a savings account with high interest. Others like high interest money market accounts or other high interest yield accounts. These high interest rate savings accounts are some of the most overlooked high interest yield accounts. Why? I think that people think that 3% - 6% interest is not important. I want to tell you that this thinking is foolish. Don’t leave this money on the table.  Here is an excellent article on compound interest.
Savings accounts with high interest rates are very important to begin putting your money to work for you. You will need to keep a significant amount of you savings in a highly liquid savings account, so you might as well make it a high interest banking account.

Savings accounts with high interest will not prepare you for retirement however. In order to be able to retire comfortably, people also need to learn how to invest in high interest certificates of deposit ( high interest cds ), high interest money market accounts, and money market funds. Gaining a base level understanding in these high interest yield accounts is a great first step to financial freedom. High interest banking is a pillar of smart savings.

Smart Savings 101 will also discuss the basics of investing in stocks and bonds. However, we will not focus on individual stocks and bonds. There are many of places on the Internet to find better stock picking advice.

If you are interested in learning how to save money for your retirement, then please sign up to the Smart Savings 101 RSS feed.