hr: Money

Humans are built in such a way, that sometimes, unless they are forced into something they won’t do it, even if it’s for their own good. Investing is something like that. Most people invest only when theire expenses for the month are paid, and only after that, if at all, will they make a small contribution to their savings.

Photo Credit: Reba Bear

This is because our brain seems to be wired in such a way that it defers unpleasant activity to a later time, and since there is no one sitting on your head (except perhaps a guilty conscience!), it’s very likely that you will not achieve your investing targets for the month.

One option to correct for this, is to treat investing like a bill that you need to pay. Let your tracking software notify you of this, and budget for this expenditure. However, even then, it’s slightly inconvenient to write out a check, or otherwise take steps to make a payment.

To get this last hurdle out of the way, you can arrange for you fund to automatically take a bite out of your paycheck to pay for the investement. This way, you pay yourself first, and are forced to spend only what you have left. Those who want to save badly, but can somehow never bring themselves to do it, can use this technique to bypass their human weaknesses!