Saving and Investing

As you switch your focus from finishing your education to achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself, it’s time to get started on saving and investing.

When you save and invest, you take different approaches to having your money work for you. But you benefit from both saving and investing because they complement each other:

• You save by putting money into insured bank or credit union accounts that typically grow slowly but are government insured.
• You invest by buying things of value, like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, that have more growth potential — sometimes much more — but aren’t insured. So you could lose money, especially in the short term.

Savings work best for your short-term goals because you want to be sure the money is available when you need it. Investments are essential for your long-term goals, which tend to have larger price tags. To cover their costs, your assets have to grow.

 

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