By Christopher Cervantes, RFP

Investment banker Baron Rothschild once said “the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.” People like him believe the worse off the market is, the better the opportunities are to profit. For that reason, Warren Buffet told us to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. If we are to follow the best advice from people like them, 2021 should be the best year for us to invest.

Unfortunately, not many of us are like them who own tons of cash sitting idly and waiting for the best opportunity to strike. Even for people who managed to keep their jobs, they are still trying to be creative in managing their household expenses while maintaining mortgage payments.

If there is a critical lesson that this pandemic has taught us in managing our finances, I guess it’s differentiating what is essential to buy and what we can pass.

Suppose you always fail in sticking to your New Year’s resolutions to save and invest more.

Understand that being vague about your financial goals will bring you nowhere. It’s about time for you to be more specific on what you want to achieve financially. Covid-19 vaccines are coming, and we see that the economy is slowly returning to normal. This means we are in the right position to improve our financial life this year.

Do you want to save for your children’s college education? Rebuild your depleted emergency fund? Or save funds out of fear of getting sick without money to pay for hospital bills? Knowing your money goes where you want them to should make it easy for you to view saving and investing as not painful.

You don’t need to deprive yourself of your favorite latté. Sure, you can indeed save a lot if you avoid spending on your favorite fancy coffee. What matters in personal finance is not how to avoid the good things in life — having a good grip on your finances not just by looking at the big picture, but at the specific picture.

We always hear the idea of financial freedom; that is the big picture. How does financial independence look like to you is the specific picture.

The same thing with saving and investing: you need to identify your specific picture.

Example, if I saved 30 percent of my income last year, my goal for this year is 40 percent.

Why do I want to stretch myself that much? Because I want to prepare for the down payment for a piece of property in a prime location. The next question is, how would I be able to achieve it?

We know what we want, and we know what we need to do for us to get what we want. So, how come many are still failing to attain it? Knowing why is one thing, but identifying how is a different ball game.

For those who want to lose weight, getting a gym membership is the easy part. But how many people who signed up follow through with it? Gym owners know that, at least when it comes to earnings, the best customers are those who don’t show up. Gym membership spikes every January, but it drops off just a few weeks later. The same scenario is happening in the financial world; how many financial accounts have been open in January but ended up in dormancy?

The key to a successful New Year’s money resolution is not to be an active saver. The key is to automate your saving in your payroll account. Being active savers means being mindful of saving every payday, but with so many things on your plate, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by your daily situation.

It’s important to know your specific picture, your “why,” but it’s equally important to plan for your “how.” This time, stop thinking of whether you are going to save. Take saving away from the things that you need to worry about. Start being mindless on saving while being very mindful of how you spend.

You can apply this strategy to almost all of your money goals. Enroll all your savings and investment account on your payroll — from your dream house and car to your children’s educational fund.

You can also use this strategy to ensure your financial protection. Sign up for life and health insurance and ensure that you would fund this every month without thinking about it.

Last year is already behind us. With prayer and a little luck by following this simple mindless saving strategy, 2021 would surely be the starting year of realizing your financial dreams and hopes.