“A wonderful vacation that puts you in hock, adding stress to your already stress-filled lives isn’t all that wonderful, is it?” NY Times best-selling author Yellen asks. “The solution is not to deny yourself and your children some well-deserved fun and relaxation. It takes a little creativity and some planning, but the satisfaction of taking a rewarding vacation within your means and without sabotaging your financial goals is well worth it.”
Saving and financial expert, Pamela Yellen, surveyed members of her BankOnYourself.com community to get their best tips for how to save for and finance vacations. These include:
1. Save Before You Travel: Start saving now so you can save up what you need for the trip before booking it. Depending on when you plan to travel you may save enough to pay for your trip in advance.
2. Charge it and Pay It Off: This strategy starts with a wise choice in credit cards. Find one that pays you in airline miles or cash back, or both. Also make sure that your credit card does not charge interest or finance fees if you pay it off every month. Bank On Yourself Community member Barry Levy was able to save what he needed for a dream vacation in Costa Rica in just two months. By “playing his credit cards right” this year, he should have enough airline miles to cover a trip to Australia next year.
3. Borrow from Yourself: “One of the favorite ways our Bank On Yourself community pays for vacations is by borrowing from their Bank On Yourself plan. These are specially designed dividend-paying whole life policies with additional little-known features that make your money in the policy grow up to 40 times faster than the kind of policies most financial experts know about. When set up correctly using the right companies, these policies allow you to borrow from your policy – and your policy continues growing as though you never touched a dime of it!
Pamela has some other great thoughts on borrowing from yourself, stay-cations and planning ahead to pay for next year’s dream vacation, without the stress of unpaid bills when you get home. She even explains how parents can make this a great opportunity to teach their children sound financial principles.
“If the children are old enough, let them help figure out the trip and how much it will cost,” she says. “Then put your heads together as a family and decide what ‘spare change’ you’re willing to commit to the effort. Chart your progress and get the satisfaction out of creating this dream vacation as a team.”
About the Author: As a consultant to financial advisors and President of www.BankOnYourself.com, Pamela Yellen investigated more than 450 savings and retirement planning strategies seeking an alternative to the risk and volatility of stocks and other investments. Her research led her to a time-tested, predictable method of growing and protecting savings now used by more than 500,000 Americans. Pamela’s book, BANK ON YOURSELF: The Life-Changing Secret to Growing and Protecting Your Financial Future, is a New York Times Bestseller. She has appeared on every major TV and radio network, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, and NPR. Her articles have appeared in hundreds of publications and websites, including USA Today, The Huffington Post, and Fortune Small Business.
