CNN Money had a nice article this morning on four ways to Fool yourself into saving smarter. It generally took a carrot-and-stick behavioral approach to saving. If you are already well on your way with your own system the behavior tips may not be helpful, but there were two tips that are great for anyone:

  1. Put your savings on autopilot. No matter who you are, making saving an automatic process, by having money deducted from your paycheck or bank account is probably the best and least painful way to save real money. I have my ingdirect account withdraw a set figure from my direct deposit checking account every payday and I don’t even miss it because I never see it there to begin with. This method can be used for savings, investing in stocks, or investing for retirement, or even just saving a bit for a special purpose.
  2. Invest in a Roth 401(k). A little twist on the usual Roth IRA advice, if your employer offers a Roth 401(k), take it instead of or in addition to a regular 401(k). There are a number of reasons why you may want to do this, so you will have to (1) see if your employer even offers it, and (2) look at your particular situation. Some reasons why you may want to use it are that you can effectively contribute more to a Roth 410(k) because you are using after-tax dollars and you can take advantage of tax-free growth if you will be in a higher tax bracket at retirement.