Saving: Reviving a Lost Art Real Estate Investment Trusts Offer Flexibility in Real Estate Investing What is a Mutual Fund Taxation of Mutual Funds The Family Partnership: An Ideal Wealth Preservation Vehicle Who Do You Trust? Selecting an Executor or Trustee -- A Primer The Living Trust Here are some specific suggestions and ideas to aid saving: Join a payroll deduction plan that takes money out of your paycheck automatically. Many employers offer such plans, and often these plans feature substantial tax advantages and matching contributions. If your company doesn't offer a plan, you can arrange for your bank to move a fixed sum from your checking account to a savings account each month. Pay off high-cost credit balances (such as credit cards), so you can save the money now spent on interest charges. Most of the time, when compared to investments, paying off credit cards makes more sense, too. After all, it makes more sense to save 18% in interest expenses than to earn 8%. Use accounts and investments that are difficult to get to, to reduce temptation. CD's with penalties for early withdrawal and retirement plans like IRA's are examples. Don't spend your next raise. Keep living at your present level and put the extra money aside. If you get a tax refund, a bonus or a gift of cash, save it. If you're paying less in taxes under new tax laws, put that money into savings. When you change jobs, take your lump-sum retirement plan distribution and put it into an IRA to continue your tax benefits. Buy a high-interest life insurance policy that builds up tax-deferred savings. You can take a tax-free loan against it if you need cash. Get on the right side of compound interest. Saving early is a painless way of saving more. Thanks to compounding, $1,000 saved this year will have far greater value when you retire than the same $1,000 put away ten or twenty years from now. Pay off your mortgage sooner by taking a 15-year loan, paying on a biweekly basis or making extra payments on the principal. This will reduce your total interest costs and build your equity faster. If you're able to refinance your house at a lower rate, put the difference in payments into savings. Ask to have all dividends from mutual funds or stocks automatically reinvested. Don't trade in your car as soon as the loan is paid off. Keep it a year or two longer and save the money now going for car payments. Put all small change into a piggy bank at least once a week (if not daily). When the pig is full, deposit the cash in a savings account. Take advantage of your firm's pension plan, especially if you're young. Starting in 1989, you have to stay only five years to be "vested"--meaning you'll get the money in your pension account no matter when you leave. Participate in any savings plan in which your employer matches some or all contributions. Open a Keogh plan if you earn any money from self-employment (including a small home business). Trim your spending by 5%, then another 5%. Easiest place to cut back: status items, such as designer clothes or sports equipment. Use prudence in selecting investments, but don't settle for meager returns! Shop around! Even one or two percent can make a difference. Four or five percent can have a dramatic impact on final results, especially over the long run.