Evening star., 1924-04-19
EVERYMAN'S
INVESTMENTS
By George T. Hughes
Sixth Article.
HOW MUCH SHOULD A MAN SAVE.
Live without Obiecfiyez

HOW MUCH SHOULD A MAN SAVE.
Live without Objectives.
What percentage of earnings should
a man or woman of small or moderate
income save? I put the question to a
gray-haired investment banker who is
a trustee of a mutual savings bank and
pretty much an authority on savings
He replied:
"A man or woman should save ac-
cording to his objective. Fact is, most
people follow that rule. It's the best
rule. People who save spasmodically
or draw out all or a part of their
savings have weak or vacillating OBJ
jectives. Banks probably make more
proporuonately from haphazard savers
who draw out savings before interest
is due than from the consistent savers.
Talks on Savings Methods.
whether person should save 5, or
10 or 20 per cent or more of his earn
ings l couldn't say. I've seen a lot of
fancy figuring along that line, but il
usually won't keep a man saving if he
hasn't a well thought out, sensible OBJ
jective. People break down in their
savings plans frequently because they
bite on too much at first. Led on by
enthusiasm and not by a reasoning,
dennlte plan, they start too strong. If
they cannot keep their objective shin
ing in mind, they get to hating it. A
person who has never saved or hasn't
saved regularly should start easily, a
dollar or two a week or IS or $40 a
month, something he won't miss. That
int hn nxyiF, T., Hz{ =
Pretty soon he'll discover a real obiec-
tive-that he can have Q home, or an in
come independent of earnings, a motor
car or something else that he's long de-
sired.
Banks supply an objective in
Christmas savings clubs and vacation
savings plans. That's a good thing.
1t teaches people to find still better
ob1ectives. About ten million per-
sons have about seven billion dollars
IN savings accounts in the United
States. There should be double that
number: not SO much because of the
money but because there would then
be just ten million more persons with
definite detectives in life. There are
lot of hard-working, steady persons
who are drifters because they are un-
conscious that they haven't a definite
purpose in lettering their condition.
They arr continually looking for
something to turn up.
Live Without Objecfives.
we see a. lot of people in savings
banks who live without detectives.
They como in to draw out their saw
ings to put into wildcat stocks and
bucket shop schemes, which are the
something's they've been expecting
TO turn up. In d mutual savings
bank. where the trustees are paid
only IN honor we can and do talk
turkey to such folks. and frequently
we induce them to avoid losses. But
IN regular bank the officers often
hnd 1t impossible to give the best
possible advice against the worst
wildcatting. Depositors prefer losses
TO sound advice
"A savings account is an invest
ment, the first for many persons. II
yields little in money, but it enables
the investor to gain higher-yieldine
Investments. such as bonds or a. home
me savings account is an investment
that can lead a man into financial in
dependence, if he has that as a firn
objective. It's surprising what YOU
can get when you go after it de.
terminedly."
Copyright. 1924. by Consolidated Press
Association