Give Me My Money!

Group short-term savings plans? These are a thing, and apparently a popular one. What are they? An informal group can get together and regularly contribute to a pool every week. At their ‘goal week’, they are given a cash payout for their vacation. While banks and insurance companies have done a great job at providing products that are important to us, personal finance remains as bland and unappealing a topic as ever. And perhaps they haven’t ignited the excitement that comes from that feeling of financial empowerment. And yet here is a group of individuals known for living pay check to pay check, excitedly lining up to participate in a savings plan as they are finally motivated by the goal. Is this a cultural shift that millennial’s love their vacation, and even if we only have three weeks a year to enjoy it as much as possible, we want a financial plan that makes the most of it. While one could always start an Automatic Savings Plan and save on there own, like anyone trying to change and build a habit, this is easier done in a group (Running groups, writing groups, etc). Does this make long term planning any less important? No, of course not. But this type of idea gets people that run at the sound of TFSA or RRSP finally engaged with saving. Unconventional, but I like it. Building the habit is the most important, and this type of plan builds off that.