Bill Gerhard: Hi! I am Bill Gerhard, Director of Financial Services for AAA. Building a sound savings plan is the best way to prepare for the future. So let's hit back to my office and discuss how to do that. Now that we are in office, let's focus on building a sound saving strategy. We will examine reasons to save and how to determine how much you need to save. We will go over the advantages and different types of saving vehicles such as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts. Look at where you can go to open these accounts and the questions you can ask to evaluate providers. And we will end with an overview on how to set and achieve your financial goals. As an introduction to personal finance, let's start with some key points on your goals and some strategies that could help you achieve them. Your savings goals might include buying a car or house, putting children through school or enjoying a comfortable retirement. Maybe they include all of these or just some of these. In setting a financial goal, it is important to consider your timeline and your comfort level with risk. Your timeline maybe relatively short term, maybe you want to buy a house or car in the next five years or fund a child's education in ten years.

Maybe your timeline may spend decades. For instance you maybe just entering the workforce and you want to plan for an early retirement. Your current income and financial obligations have an impact on your decisions too. Have you saved enough to cover an emergency? Are you using debt responsibly? Can you stick with the budget and avoid into tapping it to long term savings you may not be able to replace or then have penalties for early withdrawal? Are you comfortable with taking a risk in return for potential of greater earnings or do you need to know exactly what your investment will earn and when? How you answer these questions will help you determine how to put together personal savings portfolio that works for you. Regardless of where you are right now in your financial life, a sound strategy should include three types of savings. First, short term savings you can access without penalties such as savings accounts and money market deposit account. Secondly, medium term savings that will help you meet pre-retirement goals and generate extra income for retirement such as certificates of deposit. And lastly long term savings that will benefit you through tax advantages and retirement savings such as individual retirement account. Choosing the right financial partner is another key to a sound saving strategy. Today there are lots of opportunities. You can stick with the Brick and Mortar bank, an online bank, a credit union, a savings and loan or a brokerage house. You may also belong to a group that as AAA which offers investment opportunities and benefits and partnership with major banks. As Director of AAA Financial Services I will be your guide through this series which we created to promote savings and help you understand savings products. We hope to give you a good foundation to build upon, but please keep in mind that investment opportunities and tax regulations are subject to change. Talk with a financial professional or tax consultant before you make any major financial commitments. In our next video reasons to save, we will look at why it is important to have a savings plan. We will also consider how to determine how much you can save over time. AAA offers the information in this video series for educational purposes only. Carefully consider objectives, risks, expenses and tax implications before investing. So let's get started.