Saving vs Investing – Which Is More Important?

Are you on the fence about whether you should save or invest? You might be caught up in feeling like you’ll miss out on an opportunity coupled with the need for more security in your savings. What if there was a way to do both without sacrificing your goals? Below we’re going to walk through a few questions you need to ask yourself when it comes to saving vs investing and money management. 

How much should I have saved?

The amount you have saved is largely dependent on things like household occupants, debt, income, and bills. Once you figure out your budget, you should work towards figuring out your short term and long term financial plans. 

One of the first types of savings you should work towards is having an emergency fund. After you’ve come up with a game plan, you can decide on a feasible amount to add to a savings account after your emergency fund is built up. 

Should I invest my savings

Instead of using up your emergency fund or savings account, come up with creative ways to make extra money to use for your investments. You could get a side hustle, get a new job with higher pay, and use features like the MoneyLion rewards program to earn cashback and directly deposited into your fully managed investment account. Let that money grow and add or withdraw funds whenever you’d like without any minimums.

Comparing pros and cons 

There’s always two-sided logic to any decision and we’re going to go through them so you can get a better understanding of the pros and cons of saving and investing. 

Benefits to saving

Having a savings account definitely brings peace of mind in case of emergencies, preparing for large purchases, family vacations, and an overall sense of security. A crucial element of putting money away for your savings account is managing your money and tracking it. RoarMoney members have a built-in spend tracker right on their mobile app along with a Financial Heartbeat feature to help you reach your financial goals with expert assistance. 

On top of that, you’ll have access to Credit Builder Loans to help improve your credit score and encourage you to save. If you qualify for a loan up to $1000, you’ll get access to a portion of the funds same day and the rest is saved for you in your Credit Reserve account. These funds earn interest while you pay off the full amount of the loan.

Once the loan is paid in full, your funds saved in your reserve account get released to you, plus interest. This is ideal for someone looking to establish or improve credit and create better habits around saving. 

Savings downfall

Most savings accounts have little to no interest-earning percentages on them. That means your money is sitting and there’s likely no money being made on them. If you don’t want all of your savings wrapped up in investments and prefer a different approach, find an account like a money market account that typically earns more interest than a traditional savings account. Keep in mind, money market accounts usually require you to have a higher balance.

Benefits to investing

Learning about investing is an immense undertaking, especially if you’re busy and don’t have the slightest clue about investing. MoneyLion created an approachable way to invest that allows the newest investors the ability to create a unique portfolio based on your risk level. Your portfolio will consist of balanced and diverse investments decreasing volatility, which could result in higher returns versus your money sitting in a savings account. 

Want to create an even more effortless approach to investing? Set up automatic recurring deposits every month at any amount and have your investing happen in the background of life. 

Investing risks 

There’s no guarantee when it comes to investing. And you should let your money sit for at least 3 years and that’s hard for some. Investing is complex, but with a fully managed portfolio from MoneyLion, you’ll feel at ease about investing. 

How can I avoid too much risk with my investments

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket and avoid pulling out your money the second you see a gain or loss. That’s why MoneyLion invests in a balanced, versatile, and diverse portfolio of ETFs stocks, and bonds. Remember, slow and steady wins the race–when it comes to long term investing. 

Fully managed investment account from MoneyLion

For a $1/month admin fee, RoarMoney users have access to a fully managed investment account and cash advances like Instacash. There are no management fees, no minimum balances, and we offer auto-investing. 

Decide how aggressive or conservative you’d like to invest, based on your comfort zone or thematic preferences. At any point, you can change your preferences, add more funds, and withdraw funds. Now that’s investing done right! 

Best of both worlds- saving while investing with MoneyLion

Who says you can’t have it all? MoneyLion is the one-stop-shop for all things money. From investing your cash rewards to monitoring your credit, we have all the options you need.  

Not to mention, you can establish and build better credit with our Credit Builder Loan while borrowing up to $1000. Receive a portion of the funds same day and save some in your interest-earning reserve account while making affordable payments over 12 months. Head over to the mobile app in Apple or Google play store and sign up today!