LET'S SAVE! CREATE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE

As the nation's next generation, we should be grateful for being free from colonialism by foreign nations and standing as an independent and sovereign country. So, in everyday life, have you really felt the meaning of independence itself? For example, being financially independent is like being free from conditions to pay debt repayments. This financial independence is not only limited to being interpreted as a condition where we have a lot of assets and assets, but you can be said to be financially independent when you are able to meet your daily needs and even realize something you want independently with your financial condition. These needs are very diverse, ranging from long-term needs such as pension funds and education funds or even short-term needs such as buying clothes or gadgets. Some people may have cash to meet their needs and wants, but if you don't have sufficient funds, then what should you do? For this reason, you need to save to prepare the funds needed to meet current and future needs, so that dependence on debt can be reduced.

So, here are some efforts to achieve financial independence that you can achieve by saving:

1. Saving to fulfill self love

Have you ever wanted to collect hobby goods or travel to please yourself? In terms of millennials, this is part of self-love. Of course, after working hard, we often have the desire to respect ourselves or in other terms, self-love, so what should you do if your finances are only enough to meet your daily needs? Friends need to save by setting aside money consistently so that funds for self love can be achieved, so there is no need to disturb other life necessities.

2. Save an emergency fund for urgent needs

Attitude friends, the uncertain conditions of the pandemic and the many causes of layoffs have made us aware of the importance of having an emergency fund to meet urgent needs that we cannot expect. You must have an emergency fund of at least 3x the amount you spend per month and place it in liquid financial products such as time deposits or money market mutual funds.

3. Saving to realize the ideal education

Education is a basic need that must be met by every human being, but the education process itself is achieved at a cost that is not small, even from year to year it has a tendency to always increase. Therefore, education funds need to be calculated and prepared in advance, for example by utilizing education insurance products and other financial products such as gold savings, fixed income mutual funds, or bonds.

4. Saving to create a peaceful life in retirement

To be able to live peacefully without worrying about your retirement (old age), you need to prepare it early. By having a pension fund, of course one can maintain a sustainable source of income in retirement (old age) through retirement benefits. Having a pension fund is one of the efforts to live out old age more financially independent and can break the sandwich generation situation, namely the condition where the adult generation has to support 3 generations at once namely their parents, themselves and their children.

Those are some efforts to achieve financial independence that can be realized through saving. Then what are the tips for saving in achieving financial independence?

1. Determine financial goals and timeframe for saving;

2. Make a priority scale that will be achieved first based on the financial goals;

3. Set aside not leave! Allocate funds for saving consistently;

4. Choose the right financial product according to the time period and your risk profile; and

5. Ensure that the financial products to be used come from financial institutions registered and supervised by OJK.

Of course, there are lots of desires and necessities of life that you can achieve by saving. So what are you waiting for? Let's welcome Indonesia Savings Day by reviving the culture of saving to achieve financial independence!