How to Balance Competing Savings Goals

How to Balance Competing Savings Goals
Mark Lennihan/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

Saving money sounds straightforward—set cash aside for a future purpose—but in reality, people often face competing savings priorities. We want it all: the travel, the house, the flush savings account. So how do we figure out which savings goals to put first, especially when we’re working toward so many things at once?

“You’re also still trying to live and have fun and not eat ramen noodles every day,” says Al-Nesha Jones, a certified public accountant and founder of ASE Group, a full-service accounting, tax and advisory firm in West Orange, New Jersey. Saving is further complicated by the fact that we’re currently facing economic uncertainty, higher prices on everyday items and a tumultuous stock market.