Читать книгу More Straight Talk on Investing - John J. Brennan - Страница 37

One of the most useful concepts in financial planning is to think of your financial needs as “buckets.” The idea is to determine how your money needs to be divided among the buckets, and then be very disciplined about filling those buckets. These are typical buckets of most people:

 Current expenses. This is what you live on—the money you use for your mortgage or rent payments, food, clothing, car payments, and other essentials.

 Emergency fund. Many experts recommend that you have six months' worth of take-home pay available to meet unexpected difficulties, such as a short-term layoff from your job or large expense.

 College. The cost of a college education keeps climbing, and though you can take out loans, you'll come out ahead if you can pay for as much of it as possible out of savings.

 Retirement. Many Americans today spend a quarter century or more in retirement. You can't count on Social Security payments as your sole support for all those years. Most people will need to draw on their own savings to live comfortably while they continue to pay taxes, medical insurance, and everyday expenses.

 Other goals. Add as many buckets as you want for other savings needs, such as replacing your car, buying a first or second home, taking care of elderly parents, giving to charity, or anything else you deem essential.

You'll note that I've included charitable donations to the other goal bucket. At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, my personal view is that giving is important, and I encourage you to build it into your financial plan. Anyone who has accumulated money to invest should be willing to give something back to society. You don't have to be wealthy to give to a house of worship, the local fire department, your alma mater, or national fundraising organizations that serve your community or the broader world. Even small contributions can make a difference when they are combined with those of other givers. And they will make a difference in your own life, too. As my wife and I have increased our giving over the years, we've found it deeply satisfying to be supporting programs to help others, and we're most pleased that our children have adopted this same point of view.

Once you have designated target goals for each of the buckets in your financial plan, you will need to think about where you will keep the money. The idea is to maximize the return for each bucket within the parameters of your time horizon and risk tolerance. As a result of the varying issues in each situation, different buckets will call for different approaches.