I started trying to understand personal finance for the first time when I was 39 years old. I devoured books, podcasts, and any material that shed light on the subject in plain language.

For the first time, I questioned my long-held assumption that I wasn’t the kind of person who concerned myself with personal finance.

For the first time, I began to feel the empowerment of knowing more than ever about how money works– the empowerment of seeing my options.

But one area of personal finance lagged behind the others, failing to earn my enthusiasm: taxes.

The truth: even if you loathe the topic of taxes, learning a tidbit here and there can be easy, and can come in handy.

When you think of saving money, what comes to mind?

For many people, it’s sacrifice, stress, or restriction. Saving feels like giving something up today—fun, convenience, enjoyment, opportunity— for a theoretical payoff far in the future.

No wonder it’s hard to stick with it.

Most people want to save money. But when you look at the numbers, few actually do it consistently.

Why? Because they’re relying on willpower.

The truth is, willpower isn’t a strategy—it’s a limited resource. After a long day of work, decisions, and life, it’s easy to “decide” to save tomorrow instead of today.

That’s why the most effective savers don’t rely on willpower at all. They rely on systems. And one of the best systems is automatic saving.