SafeAmerica Credit Union

financial guidance

• 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

• By Kevin Alvarez

Black History Month and Credit Unions

"We are truly living the people helping people motto. Credit unions are uniquely positioned to lead the United States in eradicating racism." - African-American Credit Union Coalition President and CEO, Renée Sattiewhite

"Credit unions were born out of adversity." - African-American Credit Union Coalition President and CEO, Renée Sattiewhite

"Diversity, equity and inclusion is not moment, it's a movement" - African-American Credit Union Coalition President and CEO, Renée Sattiewhite

The month of February brings awareness to Black History Month and allows the opportunity to learn and celebrate the culture and history of Black Americans. Did you know, credit unions have been fundamental with providing accessible financial resources to Black Americans throughout our nation’s history?

How It Started

In the early 1900’s, Alphonse Desjardins and his wife Doriméne Roy Desjardins provided the foundation for financial cooperatives to serve and assist underserved communities. The Desjardins’ were also vital in forming the first North American credit union in Manchester, New Hampshire, where they also provided financial guidance to immigrant mill workers from the area and shared the benefit of banking with a credit union.

On March 3, 1909, the Desjardins’ formally assisted Massachusetts banking Commissioner, Pierre Jay, to draft a bill to incorporate credit unions in the state. On April 15, 1909 with the support of the Boston Merchants Association and the Senate Banking Committee, the Massachusetts Credit Union Act became law and was defined as “A Cooperative Association formed for the purpose of promoting thrift among its members.”

By the 1920’s , the first set of credit unions began to provide lending opportunities to Black American communities and urban groups of farmers, educating them and improving the financial lives of those in the communities.

Influential Black Americans and Accessible Financial Institutions

Despite the success of establishing accessible financial resources and services for all, racial injustice was an obstacle in the path of healthy expansion and growth of the credit union movement.

In 1955 the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was created to manage the successful campaign of the Montgomery Bus boycott. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., Edgar Nixon and Ralph Abernathy, the MIA applied with the federal government to become a federal charter for a credit union. However, the application was rejected due to the association’s field of membership being too broad.

Once the 1960’s arrived, President Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration formed the “Great Society Initiative” with the goal to eliminate poverty and racial injustice in the United States. This initiative led to the formation of credit unions’ in low-income areas, predominantly in Black neighborhoods along with the formation of numerous banks and credit unions owned by Black Americans. This broke down barriers in terms of encouraging Black Americans to purchase homes, create businesses and establish lines of credit.

The Modern Age - Where We Are Now

The philosophy of people helping people has been and remains an important part of the credit union movement.

In 1999, the African American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC) was created to increase the strength of the global credit union community. They are a non-profit organization of African-American Professionals and volunteers in the credit union industry whose mission is to increase diversity within the credit union community through advocacy and professional development.

Black Americans continue to have a strong influence in the world of finance with leaders in the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF), World Council of Credit Unions and Credit Union National Association (CUNA), all serving with the purpose of creating a financial community of People Helping People. Black history month offers us all the opportunity to learn and celebrate the many contributions of the black community.

To learn more, get involved or make a donation to commit to change click below:

African American Credit Union Coalition