Saving by Intention

Joel Rolf had a long record of financial discipline before it ever occurred to him to think about saving. For roughly 15 years, he has faithfully set aside the first ten percent of his paycheck each month to give to church and charity. He has maintained that discipline despite the relatively modest living he earns as principal of a Lutheran school.

When it came to spending, though, he was “the typical American,” he said. He’d built up some credit card debt and had a tendency toward impulse buying. “If I needed a new tv, I went out and got one,” he said, without thinking much about what he could afford to spend.

The wake up call came when he received a copy of his earnings record from the Social Security Administration with its estimate of his expected retirement benefits. “I realized, this is not going to be enough money,” he explained.

At about the same time, a member of his church who was a volunteer with Indy Saves offered several savings workshops for members of the congregation. When he heard the Saves message he knew it was for him. “I said, this is the stuff we need to be doing, because otherwise we are going to be behind down the road.”

As a result of those workshops, “I started looking at saving as I did my giving,” he explained. “That has to be first, and it has to be intentional. I guess I just had never looked at saving the same way.”

He started having money deducted directly from his paycheck. “If I don’t see it, then I don’t have it to spend,” he said. To find the extra money to save, he and his wife started eating out less often. They also started approaching purchases differently. “You can’t just say, ‘Oh, I’m going to save money’ and expect that your savings will grow,” he said. “There’s a conscious thing. It’s a change in how you even look at shopping.” Now, if he needs a new tv, he thinks about what he can afford to spend and goes from there.

He didn’t stop with enrolling as a Saver. He’s also helping to launch a pilot program for Lutheran Saves in his school. Already over half the teachers have signed up as Savers, and the curriculum for the program is being developed. “We literally are, in a positive way, building this as we go,” he said.

The lessons they will teach will build on the same approach he has taken personally — the importance of setting aside money both for giving and for saving. He recognizes the challenge that poses. “This is not an affluent area,” he said. “A lot of these people think only the affluent can save.” If they can convince the kids that saving is an attainable goal, they hope the message will rub off on their parents.

Meanwhile, he can offer his personal testimony. “An accountant would not look at my checkbook and say that I can do the things that I do,” he said. “And yet I do.”