Holiday bonuses are a welcome treasure from your employer, though one becoming all too rare these days unless you work for Google or another fast growing company on the Fortune 500 with the greatest profits. Whether you are expecting a cash bonus this holiday season or if one comes as a complete surprise, this type of bonus should be treated like vacation money. Since your salary is already budgeted for monthly and general expenses, a bonus at year’s end is an opportunity to put these dollars aside to save up for your next (bigger and better) vacation and improve your work-life balance.
How to Save a Year End Bonus for a Vacation
It is necessary that you quickly take your bonus balance and remove it from your checking account or risk it being relegated to a car payment or tax bill for example. Open up a “travel” bank account at your local or online bank, where there are no maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements. Check out Capital One 360 (formerly INGDirect) Online Savings Account for a fast application process and the highest interest rates. Once you transfer the holiday bonus from your primary checking account to the online savings account (the full amount after taxes if you must), there is no chance your vacation dollars will be spent on everyday expenses.
Vacation Prepaid Debit Cards
When the time comes to take your next vacation, turn that vacation bank account balance into dedicated vacation spending money. How? Purchase a Prepaid Debit Card from Visa, MasterCard, or American Express (Gift Card) and transfer the entire bonus money (now grown slightly with interest) onto the card. While traveling use the card to pay for a reward like a fancy dinner, brief stay at a 5-star hotel, exotic rental car, private tour, or pricey souvenir. Try to spend it all at once in order to sidestep maintenance fees or expiration dates (becoming less common these days) and to avoid tracking and remembering to use any leftover balance at a future date.
Vacation Gift Cards
For small end of year bonuses that do not justify opening a separate savings account, a Retail Store Gift Card is another excellent option. Does your favorite restaurant or store have a franchise location in your next travel destination? Purchase a gift card or two for the total amount of your bonus and have it ready in your wallet or purse during your next trip. You will have an exciting travel goal to fulfill; that is to spend your holiday bonus $ shopping or on a memorable meal, paid for by your employer. For some ideas on which restaurants and shopping destinations offer gift cards and have numerous locations, review the list of Gift Cards available for purchase at Amazon.com.
Buy All Gift Cards at Amazon.com
As you probably know from past experience, it is all to easy to take bonus monies and use it to bulk up your bank account just like a regular paycheck. Take the excitement of receiving a bonus and turn into into an opportunity to save for vacation time. It is infinitely more exciting to leverage a bonus for what it is designed for – special occasions such as your next trip or treating yourself to a personal vacation day in your home city. By depositing the end of year bonus into a vacation savings account and transferring the balance into either a prepaid debit card or branded gift card, you will reap the rewards of a job well done.
A majority of deserving workers will not receive any sizable bonus as the year concludes. Of course if you are one of the fortunate ones, make it count as a vacation with a little something extra. Start planning now by opening a travel bank account as you ring in the New Year.
Happy traveling…
-Scott
