Pella Frost, Head of Everyday Banking for HSBC UK, pinpoints three ways to set and reach your savings goals.
It’s UK Savings Week, and whether you have a little or a lot, now is a great time to review your financial goals, make adjustments, and refocus efforts on saving for what matters most.
Having goals and saving towards tangible targets is a great way to stay motivated. The key is to make it a habit.
Below are 3 steps to help you set your savings goals and build your financial health:
1. Identify financial goals
- What would you like to be doing?
- Where do you see yourself living?
- How would that feel?
The first step to setting meaningful goals is to picture your life in 1, 5 or 10 years from now and ask yourself:
From there, write down the short, medium and long-term financial goals that will help you create this life. It could be to save enough for a deposit for a home or, if you’re thinking long term, it could be adding to your pension so you can secure a stable retirement.
Whatever you choose, make sure you’re passionate about achieving these goals. They need to be things that excite and motivate you.
2. Name and date your goals
When you have some goals in mind, it helps to get specific. Maybe you’ll refer to one as your ‘Getting the Keys’ project, or your ‘Financial Freedom’ fund. Doesn’t that make them feel more real? More personal?
Once you have a name for your goals, be sure to add a date or milestone too. It might be, ‘Getting the Keys in 2025’, or ‘Financial Freedom at 55’.
Anyone can use our savings goal calculator to help see how long it’ll take you to reach your savings goal, to help give you a firm target to aim for.
And if you’re an HSBC UK customer you can create and track your savings goals in our app with an eligible savings account. In fact, it’s helping customers create almost 20,000 goals every month on average.
3. Make it automatic
Once you have a clear vision of what you want, lock in that enthusiasm by automating your savings.
Set up standing orders from your current account to your savings and/or investment accounts, using your goal name as a reference. Ideally, set the payments to leave your account on payday so you’re prioritising paying yourself first.
And remember, there’s no right or wrong way to save – it depends on each of our individual circumstances. We should focus on saving what we can, when we can.
Because saving – whether big or small – can open up a world of opportunity.
