Simple Tips For Building Your Nest Egg

If you've been paying attention to national news headlines, you're probably familiar with the fact that Americans are not doing a very good job of saving money. It used to be that everyday people would regularly put away money for the fabled "rainy day," socking away more than 10 percent of their income two decades ago. Unfortunately, that percentage has actually turned negative in recent years, meaning we are spending more, saving less, and even going into debt.

To highlight the current state of savings habits, A.G. Edwards recently released the results of a study known as the Nest Egg Index, which ranked the top 200 communities across the country, and the 50 states, based on residents' personal savings and investing behavior. Some areas of the country are doing better than others. Our state, for example, finished 36th in the rankings.

So what should we take away from these results? For one thing, saving doesn't have to be a long, complicated process; it can actually be broken down into several simple steps. In the first of this two-part series, we'll discuss the first half of a dozen simple tips:

Start early. Time is your biggest ally in building a nest egg. Whether you're teaching your children the value of saving at an early age, or even if you use a major life event such as a job change to kick-start your own savings plan, time works to your advantage

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