Piggyvest Target: How to Create a Target on Piggyvest

Piggyvest target saving is a feature on Piggyvest that lets you save towards multiple goals on your own or with a group of people. In this article, I will explain everything you need to know about the target feature, benefits and how you can set up target savings.

First things first. Let me give you a picture of what the Piggyvest target feature is all about and how it is different from other Piggyvest features.

Lets assume your yearly house rent is 250,000 Naira.

You will need to save about 21,000 Naira monthly, 4,800 weekly or 685 Naira daily (choose any frequency that suits you) to be able to pay your rent at the end of the year.

Where does the Target feature come in?

With the Piggyvest Target feature, you can create a Target to automatically debit your Bank account with 21,000 Naira monthly, 4,800 weekly or 685 Naira daily and send the money to your Target savings. If you do not want Piggyvest to debit you automatically, you can disable automatic debits and fund the money manually.

When your rent is due, you can pay without stress.

This is better than waiting till two months before the year ends then you begin to panic trying to save all the money at once.

Please note that this does not apply to rents alone. You can use it to save for any purpose.

Difference Between Piggyvest Target and Safelock

While Safelock can best be described as a fixed account where you lock a certain amount of money you don’t need for a period of time, Target is like a daily, weekly or monthly contribution.

Safelock works better when you save a huge amount of money for a long period while Target is the best option to save smaller amounts on a frequent basis.

Types of Targets on Piggyvest

There are different kind of targets you can create on Piggyvest; the Personal target, Public savings challenge and Private group target.

It is important that you understand the meaning of each of these options before creating your target.

Personal target 

This is a private target for only you. Nobody can join or see this target group except you. It is the best option for saving for things like a new gadget, house rent or bills.

Public Savings Challenge 

Public savings challenge is a public target group. Once you create it, every member on Piggyvest can see it. You will also get a link that you can share to friends for them to join your target group.

At the end of the target, the sum of what each person saved is sent back to the individual, not the group owner.

This option is best for challenges as the name implies. E.g saving to have a specific amount at the end of the year.

Private Group Target

The private group target is for friends who want to save money together for the same purpose e.g December vacation. When you create a Private group target, only you and the people you invite to the group can see it.

On the deadline of the target, Piggyvest returns the sum each member was able to save.

How to Set up a Piggyvest Target

There are two options to set up a target on Piggyvest; It’s either you create the target from scratch or you join a Public target created by other users.

Step 1: Log in to your Piggyvest account. If you are a new user, click here to create a Piggyvest account.

Step 2: Once you are logged in, click on total savings.

Step 3: Click on Targets to access the target feature.

Step 4: Click on create a target. If you are on mobile, click the pencil icon at the bottom right.

Step 5: Select the target type that suits the purpose you are creating the target for.

Step 6: Enter the Title of the target and fill out other necessary details. Overall target amount is the total amount you expect each person to save while Saving frequency is how often members are to credit the group with money.

Click on continue.

Step 7: Enter the amount you want each person to save based on the frequency you selected before. Select the day of the week and time you want the transactions to occur. Select the start and withdrawal date.

Step 8: Accept the terms and conditions. Click on create group target to finish.

Congratulations, you have created your first Piggyvest target group.

How to Join a Public Target Savings

Most times, there are targets already created by other Piggyvest users for the same purpose you want to save for. You can join any of these public target groups if you don’t mind.

Here is how to go about it;

Step 1: Login to your Piggyvest account.

Step 2: Click on Total savings once you are logged in.

Step 3: Select Targets from the list of features.

Step 4: Click on explore targets to view the list of public targets.

Step 5: Browse through the catalogue and select your choice.

Step 6: Click on Join Challenge. You can also check the details before joining.

Extra Target Tips to Take

After you have successfully created your Piggyvest Target group, you need to some extra steps.

Add a Funding Source

A funding source is where Piggyvest will remove money from to fund your target savings. If you do not add a funding source, you will have to login to your account frequently to fund your target savings manually.

However, if you add a source, the app will automatically debit your bank account and send the funds to your Piggyvest target. Piggyvest is a trusted brand so you don’t need to fret about adding your card details.

If you didn’t create the target yourself but joined a public target, you also need to follow this step.

You will need to add your Debit card to Piggyvest to achieve this. If you haven’t added your debit card, check this article on how to add a debit card to Piggyvest.

Follow the steps below to select a funding source for your Piggyvest target savings;

Step 1: Login to your Piggyvest account.

Step 2: Click on Targets.

Step 3: Select the Target group that you want to add the funding source to.

Step 4: Click on settings.

Step 5: Select the funding sources from the list of options, enter your password and submit.

The secondary source is meant for when there is no cash available in the primary source you selected. You can set this option if you want to.

Top up a Target

If Piggyvest does not find any money in the sources you selected, you will have to log in to Piggyvest and top up the target group manually.

Here’s how to Top up a group target manually.

Step 1: Login to your Piggyvest account.

Step 2: Click on Total Savings.

Step 3: Click on Target group.

Step 4: Select the name of the target group you want to Top up/fund.

Step 5: Click on Top up.

Step 6: Enter the amount you want to fund to the target group, select a funding source and click on Top up.

How to Lock a Target

Sometimes you might feel tempted to withdraw the money in your Piggyvest Target. To prevent this from happening, you have to lock the target.

Once you have locked the target, you cannot withdraw the money until the maturity date of the target.

Here’s how to lock your target savings;

Step 1: Login in to your Piggyvest account.

Step 2: Click on Total savings.

Step 3: Click on Target.

Step 4: Select the target you want to lock.

Step 5: Scroll down a bit and select lock from the list of options.

Step 6: Enter a note to yourself for locking the target (not compulsory), enter your Piggyvest password and submit.

Your target will be locked instantly. You cannot unlock it no matter what. You can only get your money when you have completed the target.

How to Extend your Piggyvest Target

Thank you Alice (in the comment section) for bringing this to my notice. I actually forgot to add this part when I wrote this article the first time.

Extending your Piggyvest target means you want to increase your target amount or saving frequency.

You may want to do this if your withdrawal date is closer and you are still far from reaching your target.

Here is how to extend your Piggyvest target;

Step 1: Login to your Piggyvest account.

Step 2: Click on total savings to open all your savings on Piggyvest.

Step 3: Click on targets to view all the target savings you have created on Piggyvest.

Step 4: Select the target you want to extend from the list of options.

Step 5: From the list of options, select extend.

Step 6: Edit the options to your convenience and submit.

Unfortunately, as at the time of writing this article, you cannot extend the date of a Piggyvest target.

If there were some days that your target saving was not credited, you can calculate the amount needed to cover up for those number of days and top-up the target savings.

You can also increase the saving frequency to cover up for the days you missed.

I hope Piggyvest will add an option that will allow users to also extend the dates of target savings in the nearest future.

How to Break your Target

Breaking your target means you want to stop the target and probably withdraw your money.

If you have locked your target, you cannot break it.

Follow the steps below to break your Piggyvest Target;

Step 1: Login to your Piggyvest account.

Step 2: Select Total Savings.

Step 3: Select Target from the options.

Step 4: Click on the target you want to break.

Step 5: Scroll down and select break from the options available.

Step 6. Select your reason for breaking, type your password and submit.

Once you have broken a Target, your money will be sent to your PiggyFlex account.

You can read my article on how to withdraw from PiggyFlex.

Please note that, if you break the funds before the maturity date, you will lose all your interest and also be charged a 1% processing fee. 

Also, if you do not achieve the target amount by the maturity date, you won’t be paid any interest.

Here’s a screenshot of a target I completed last year.

In this target, I was able to save 365 Naira daily ($1 per day) until December 18, 2019. The total sum of 133,248 Naira was paid into my PiggyFlex account with interest.

I transferred the money to Safelock and locked it. I wanted to use the money to fund my business. Since it wasn’t complete and I didn’t want to spend it, I had to Safelock it.

Before the year ends, I may create a new target for Calabar carnival.

Conclusion

The Piggyvest Target feature is a powerful tool that can change how you budget money for a lot of things. 

Once a new plan pops up in your head or there’s an upcoming bill, take out a sheet of paper, calculate how much you need to save daily, weekly or monthly to achieve your goal.

If you have any questions, you can use the comment section below.