Financial Fitness Week Coverage: Balancing Saving and Spending

Perhaps you’re saving for that dream house and also paying off credit card debt. Maybe you also want to start a college fund for your new baby, and you want to ensure you and your partner are going to retire on time.

“They’re all good goals,” said Mark Nachimson, a senior financial adviser with VALIC, one of Duke’s retirement vendors. “It’s nice to say that we can do all of them at once, but pick one. Focus on that. Get that going, and then go to the second one.”

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He and about 50 Duke employees discussed life goals and financial priorities during a Duke Financial Fitness Week cash management workshop on Thursday.

In the audience, Matt Susen, 30, is in his second year working at Duke as a radiation oncology medical dosimetrist, in which he designs treatment plans. He wants to save up money for a house, and he’s still making payments on his black Audi A4 he bought three years ago.

He’s also currently contributing about 15 percent of his biweekly paycheck to his Duke retirement plan.

“I’m trying to figure out what to do with my paycheck and be a little smarter with my money,” Susen said. “I definitely feel like I want to save more, and I feel more motivated to pay more attention to it.”

When it comes to balancing monthly fixed and variable expenses with the need to save for the future, Nachimson has a few workshop tips for keeping organized and disciplined:

Grow your net worth

Nachimson said besides keeping an up-to-date monthly budget, make sure to look at the big picture: you should be growing your net worth.To calculate that figure, add up your assets (retirement account balance, bank account balance, house, investments) and subtract your liabilities (mortgage, education loans, credit card debt).

“Net worth, when it increases, means you’re gaining more financial stability,” Nachimson said.

Get rid of unnecessary, routine purchases

When Nachimson realized that he was signed up for a fax forwarding service but had only received two faxes in five months, he decided to get rid of his subscription. That decision saved him $10 a month, which would have totaled $120 a year.

Nachimson recommends getting rid of services you don’t need, such as an unused gym membership. He also warned against impulse buys when it comes to store sales.

“Remember, you haven’t saved on a sale item if you didn’t need it in the first place,” he said.

Take stock of your greatest asset

Nachimson sometimes asks clients to choose their greatest financial asset. The answers vary, but cars and houses are usually the top choices.

Instead of focusing on material things, take stock of the precious time you have to save for retirement, he said.

“Time is an asset we all have,” he said. “The best way to use time is to set aside money now for the future.”