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Achieve your goals

February 10, 2023 • By Kevin Alvarez

Common Cents For Couples: How To Manage Money Together

For some couples, February might be the month for romantic connection - celebrating Valentine's Day with dinner reservations or romantic gifting. For others, solidarity and closeness can be found in boycotting cupid together. Regardless of whether you have a love or hate relationship with the cherubic matchmaker who wields heart-tipped arrows, one thing is certain: cohabiting couples will enjoy a more harmonious relationship when they align on money matters.

Finance may not be the most romantic conversation topic, but it’s inarguably an important one. A 2021 Fidelity Investments Couples & Money Study found that one in five couples cite money as their greatest relationship challenge and 44% of partners admit to arguing about money occasionally. Building up emergency savings, paying off debt, and saving for milestone events (like college or a new home) topped the list of concerns keeping partners awake at night. So, what’s the best way to foster financial unity on the home front? We’ve come up with some suggestions we hope you’ll find helpful.

Skip The Candy; Talk Candidly

If you want to be successful in managing your money, you must find comfort in talking first. Being transparent about your earning, debt, and money philosophies may feel uncomfortable, but full disclosure is critical when it comes to making joint financial decisions like whether you want to merge finances or how you want to tackle bills. Make check-ins a regular conversation (versus a one-time event) so that when financial hurdles happen, you'll already have a baseline sense of how your partner will want to move forward.

Create Joint Financial Goals

What do you want to achieve as a couple? Do you need to create an emergency fund or start saving for a home purchase? Do you need to budget for an upcoming vacation or pay off a high interest credit card this year? Narrow down the primary financial priorities you can tackle in tandem, and then decide how you want those goals to be reflected: as a shared document you periodically refer to? As a vision board?? As categories within financial app? Everyone has their own preferences; the importance here is finding common ground when it comes to money milestones.

Organize Accounts

If your money philosophies are aligned and you generally see eye-to-eye, congratulations! Who spends what is half the battle. On the other hand, if fully merging finances is a pain point, consider keeping three accounts: one for you, one for your partner, and one for joint spending. Decide what falls under the shared category. For example, will medical expenses and gifts for family be shared or separate? Take time to fine-tune what constitutes "mine," "yours" and "ours," (and how much you want to budget within those categories) so that discretionary spending doesn't feel like something either of you need to defend.

Track Your Spending and Savings

Once your accounts are organized accordingly, there are several options for syncing up finances. Consider one of these popular options all offering free versions:

  • Mint: tracks income, savings goals, and your credit score, and also syncs with your credit cards and checking/savings accounts
  • Honeydue: Ideal for couples who appreciate the ability to chat about bills and transactions within the app (versus at the dinner table).
  • Goodbudget: A good opinion for curbing spending. Acts as an "envelope system" in which you can only spend the amount that's in each designated envelope (you can have up to 20 envelopes before switching to the paid version).

Planning For Your Future

Need a little guidance when it comes to planning your finances or creating a realistic household budget? Our partner GreenPath Financial Wellness works with thousands of people each month to help them pay down debt, improve their credit, and achieve their goals.

This article is shared by our partners at GreenPath Financial Wellness, a trusted national non-profit

Greenpath Financial Wellness

February 22, 2022 • By Kevin Alvarez

America Saves Week – Save for the Unexpected

The Coronavirus pandemic has made saving a priority for most Americans, especially those most vulnerable with low to moderate earnings. In fact, a recent study by Edelman Financial Engines, in conjunction with America Saves and the Bipartisan Policy Center, found that:

  • 40% of working Americans report they had difficulty paying for a personal expense in 2020.
  • 1 in 3 working Americans say they would run out of savings on hand in 1 month or less if their income suddenly stopped.
  • Nearly 1 in 2 working Americans (45%) would have difficulty paying for a $400 emergency expense, meaning they say they would not cover it with savings or put it on their credit card and pay it off at the next statement; 11% say they would be unable to come up with the money.

While saving provides us with a much-needed financial cushion, it also helps ease the emotional burden of worrying about what’s around the corner.

Save for Opportunities

Day Two of America Saves Week encourages us to save for the unexpected. While saving for emergencies is always a much discussed topic in personal finances, here’s something that’s not as widely discussed: saving for opportunities.

If you are in the position to save, you’re not only saving for an unexpected car repair, medical bill, or appliance breaking down — you’re also saving for the last minute dinner invite with friends and family, the concert for your favorite artist, or the ability to grab a birthday gift for your child’s classmate.

Today we want you to consider reframing saving for the “dreaded emergency,” and recognize that you’re also saving for fun and positive opportunities! Doesn’t it feel better to contribute to an OPPORTUNITY FUND vs. an EMERGENCY FUND?

If you haven’t, we encourage you to take the America Saves Pledge. After making your new savings plan, you’ll receive support, reminders, and tips from America Saves that will help keep you on track towards achieving your goal.

Make the Pledge

By accessing this link, you will be leaving SafeAmerica's website and entering a website hosted by another party.

Although SafeAmerica has approved this as a reliable partner site, please be advised that you will no longer be subject to, or under the protection of, the privacy and security policies of the bank's website. The other party is solely responsible for the content of its website.

We encourage you to read and evaluate the privacy and security policies on the site you are entering, which may be different than those of the bank.

Continue

February 21, 2022 • By Kevin Alvarez

America Saves Week – Save Automatically

It’s America Saves Week! We kick off day one of America Saves Week by focusing on the easiest and most effective way to save—AUTOMATICALLY.

How to Save Automatically

Automatic savings simply means you have a process in place to save at regular intervals, whether that’s monthly, weekly, or daily.

If you want to save automatically, we suggest one of these three strategies:

  • Split to Save. Instruct your employer to direct a certain amount from your paycheck each pay period and transfer it to a retirement or savings account (or Both). Traditionally, you can set this up using your employer’s direct deposit, ask your HR representative for more details and set this up today. We call this method “Split to Save.”
  • Auto-Transfer. Every payday, your bank or credit union transfers a fixed amount from your checking account to a savings or investment account. To set up automatic transfer with your SafeAmerica Credit Union accounts, simply log into Online Banking and click the TRANSFER link at the top of the page. You can set up transfers within your accounts here or with accounts you have elsewhere (external account).
  • Scheduled Transfer. Choose a day of the month or a regular interval, such as every 2 weeks, to transfer a set amount from your checking account to a savings account. Consider picking a lower dollar amount or a time of the month when many other automatic payments aren’t happening. To set up a scheduled transfer with your SafeAmerica Credit Union accounts, log into Online Banking and click the Transfer link at the top of the page. You'll have the option to make your transfer a recurring one. Just set it and forget it!

Online Banking is a great way to save automatically. See how these tools can help you reach your goal! Click here!

If these methods don't work for you, you can still make saving a consistent habit!

  • Save your loose change. Every day, put all of the loose change from your pocket or purse into a jar, and don’t spend it. If that jar starts to look tempting, take it to a local, federally insured bank or credit union to cash and deposit into a savings account with low to no fees. However, if you’ve got a big jar: there’s no harm in watching your automatic savings pile up- literally!

Why Automatic Savings Works

Over time, these automatic deposits add up. For example, $50 a month accumulates to $600 a year and $3,000 after five years, plus interest that has compounded. Soon you will be able to cover many unexpected expenses without putting them on your credit card or taking out a high-cost loan.

I Don't Have Enough Money To Save

If you’re still in the stage of your savings journey where you’re reducing debt (which is saving!), then visit our resources to help you pay down debt.

Remember, even while you’re actively reducing debt, everyone has the ability to start to save, even if it's a small amount. Remember to “Start Small, Think Big.” You can start with only a small amount, and you can save daily, weekly, or monthly. Over time, your deposits will add up. Even small amounts of savings can help you in the future.

Saving Automatically Flyer

Check out, print, or download the Saving Automatically Flyer. Then be sure to take the America Saves Pledge to get support, resources, and tips to help you along your savings journey based on what you are actually saving for!

 

How do you save automatically? The two best ways to save automatically are to split your direct deposit or have your financial institution automatically transfer a predetermined amount from your checking to savings. By saving automatically you’ll adopt a “set it and forget it” approach that increases your success. And remember, saving is a HABIT, not a destination.

Make the Pledge

By accessing this link, you will be leaving SafeAmerica's website and entering a website hosted by another party.

Although SafeAmerica has approved this as a reliable partner site, please be advised that you will no longer be subject to, or under the protection of, the privacy and security policies of the bank's website. The other party is solely responsible for the content of its website.

We encourage you to read and evaluate the privacy and security policies on the site you are entering, which may be different than those of the bank.

Continue

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