Automate Your Wealth
Chapter 2: Automate Your Contributions

Lesson 1: Setting Up Auto-Investing

Complete & Continue Next Lesson Learn More

🎯 Lesson Objective:

Learn how to automate your investments so you can build wealth without micromanaging. We’ll cover how to set up recurring transfers, choose the right accounts, and configure automatic investments in both taxable and retirement accounts.

🏦 1: Choose Where Your Money Flows

  • Before setting anything up, decide which accounts should receive your money and in what order:

    • 401(k)/403(b): If your employer offers matching, this is your highest priority—you’re essentially getting free money.

    • Roth IRA or Traditional IRA: These are next in line due to their tax benefits and long-term flexibility.

    • Taxable Brokerage Account: Great for investing beyond your tax-advantaged limits or if you plan to use the money before retirement.

    💡 Pro tip: Think of this as your investing waterfall—once one account is filled, the overflow goes to the next.

🔁 2: Automate Transfers From Your Bank

Now that you know where your money is going, set up automatic transfers:

  • Log in to your bank or investment provider and schedule recurring transfers to each account.

  • Sync the transfer dates with your paydays to avoid cash shortages.

  • If you’re paid irregularly, set up transfers based on percentages or after building a one-month cash buffer.

🔒 Safety tip: Always maintain at least a one-month cushion in your checking account to prevent overdrafts.

📈 3: Automate Your Investments

Transferring money isn’t enough—you also want that money invested automatically:

  • Most brokerages allow you to auto-invest into specific funds (e.g., total stock market index, S&P 500, or target-date funds).

  • If available, use your platform’s model portfolio or asset allocation tool to match your risk tolerance.

  • Be sure to check if dividend reinvestment (DRIP) is turned on for compounding benefits.

📊 Goal: Every dollar should be invested without you having to log in and click “buy.”

🛠️ 4: Platform-Specific Setup Guides

Here we break down how to do all this on real platforms:

  • Fidelity: Set up recurring transfers via “Transfer” tab → Automate → Select your account and fund.

  • E*TRADE: Go to “Transfers” → “Recurring Transfers,” then enable recurring mutual fund or ETF purchases.

  • Vanguard/Schwab: Use the automatic investment plan (AIP) tools to specify both amount and fund.

🖥️ Screenshots, video walkthroughs, or direct links to support pages can be included here.

🔍 5: Checkpoints to Review

Even automation needs occasional tuning:

  • Quarterly: Confirm everything is still running—money is transferring and investing as planned.

  • Annually: Reassess your income, savings goals, and tax situation. Are you on track to hit your 401(k) or IRA limits?

  • As Needed: Update allocations if your risk tolerance or life stage changes. Most brokerages let you change this without canceling your automation.

🔁 Think of this as your “system maintenance”—the cost of a set-it-and-forget-it plan that actually works.

🎯 Lesson Conclusion

By now, you’ve taken the critical steps to automate your path to wealth. You’ve chosen where your money flows, set up automatic transfers, and configured your accounts to invest without your constant input. This is how real progress happens—not with big, emotional moves, but with small, consistent actions that run quietly in the background.

Automation frees your time, removes emotion from investing, and helps ensure you never miss a chance to build your future. Check in on your system every so often—but trust it to do the heavy lifting. That’s how you build wealth, on autopilot.

🧠 Quick Quiz

  • 401(k) with employer match.

  • To avoid overdrafting your account.

  • Scheduling recurring investments into chosen funds.

  • Every 6–12 months.

⏭️ Up Next: Designing a Monthly Money Flow System

Now that your investments are automated, it’s time to zoom out and connect the rest of your financial life. In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to design a Monthly Money Flow System—a clear, repeatable plan for how every dollar of your income moves through your accounts.

We’ll cover:

  • How to structure your bank accounts for clarity and control

  • Setting up a “money map” for each paycheck

  • Creating buffers, bills automation, and guilt-free spending buckets

This is where automation meets intention. Let’s build a system that supports your goals every single month.