SafeAmerica Credit Union

Pay down debt

• By Kevin Alvarez

Paying Down Debt Is Saving — America Saves Week 2023

Making the decision to pay down debt, particularly consumer debt, can be mixed with emotion. You feel good about choosing to take concrete steps to pay off balances on credit cards, auto loans, student loans or other installment loans. On the other hand, you feel less positive about the amount of money you are directing into a savings account. Well, we’re here to show you how reducing debt is a form of saving, to give you strategies for the best way to do so that align with your personal situation, and to boost your financial confidence to keep you working toward your goals.

As you pay off your debt you are freeing up money, allowing you to direct those funds toward saving for something else that’s important to you – perhaps an emergency/opportunity fund, a vacation, home purchase, or retirement. This money is freed up as you spend less on interest, and possibly late fees, and lowering the debt balances themselves.

If you have more than one debt you want to pay off, for example an auto loan and a credit card balance, there are two main strategies to help you decide which debt to pay off first.

  • The snowball method focuses on the balances of each loan. In this strategy, you make the minimum payment on all your loans except the one with the smallest balance. With this loan, you put as much money as you can toward it and when it is completely reduced you allocate that money to the next smallest balance. Your confidence gets a boost every time you see an account balance at zero.
  • The avalanche method focuses on the interest rates of each loan. In this strategy, you pay the minimum payment on all your loans except the one with the highest interest rate. You apply any remaining money you have for debt repayment to the highest interest rate loan. By paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first you reduce the overall amount of interest you must pay.

You choose which method is right for you and your situation.

Once you are on a path to reducing your debt, reflect on the type of relationship you have with credit. Credit is a tool. When used wisely and with purpose, credit can help you achieve your financial goals and build financial confidence. Having a clear view on when and for what purpose you use credit is the foundation for a positive relationship.

Sometimes we’re told that there are good types of debt (home mortgage) and bad debt (credit cards). This type of categorization is based only on the financial aspect and not the personal situation you are dealing with. It may feel better to ask yourself if the type of debt you are taking on is a good decision for you or not.

For example, when an emergency expense crops up and it is large enough that it will deplete all or nearly all of your emergency savings, you may feel like you’re on shaky ground if another expense crops up before you can replenish your savings. So, you may weigh this option against using a combination of savings and credit based on what feels best for you in the situation.

Making purposeful choices about credit, something that you plan for financially and mentally, can help you build more financial confidence.

You can use the America Saves Spending and Saving Tool to calculate how much you have available for debt repayment, take the America Saves Pledge to make a plan for this repayment, or listen to the ThinkLikeASaver Podcast for even more tips.

SafeAmerica Credit Union is here to help you on your saving journey. Check out all the Savings opportunities we have to offer.

Savings Accounts

• 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

Get Your End-of-Year Financial Health Checkup

As the eagerly awaited holiday season gets underway, the end of the year is a great time to get a financial health checkup to make sure finances are on track.

With regular checkups, you can fix small problems before they become big issues.

This year-end keeping financially healthy is especially important due to many economic uncertainties related to inflation, inventory shortages, as well as the expiration of COVID relief programs put in place more than a year ago to help people manage through the pandemic.

Your Financial Health Checkup

Like a physical health checkup, a financial checkup examines your vital signs to be sure all is well when it comes to you financial health and wellness.

Do you have an emergency savings? How do your credit card balances look? Are you tracking monthly income and expenses? What does your credit score and history look like? These are a few of the vitals reviewed during an end-of-year financial checkup.

From an overall budget review to managing credit card debt, the caring, NFCC-certified counselors at GreenPath Financial Wellness will conduct a full review of your current financial fitness and provide recommended next steps for improving your financial health.

A financial checkup guides you to:

  1. Review Your Financial Goals: Has there been a significant life change this past year? A change in jobs, a marriage, divorce, home purchase or other big change can affect your overall financial picture. A check up is a good time to assess whether your current financial goals sync up with your overall situation.
  2. Understand Options to Move Forward after Relief Programs Expire: Loans that were deferred as part of COVID-related relief program need your attention. Deferments provided borrowers with a little breathing room, but now that the temporary pause in payments has expired, a checkup is a good opportunity to understand options, and take a closer look at not only any loans that were on pause, but also your entire financial picture.
  3. Manage Income and Expenses: One of the best ways to cope with inflation is to take the time to prioritize monthly spending. A spending plan helps to ensure that what you spend doesn't exceed what you make each month as prices rise. A financial checkup gives you a better understanding of your income and expenses. It can also be a time to set a spending plan to keep your finances on track and start saving for future goals.
  4. Pay Down Debt: A checkup is a good time to explore options to help you pay down credit card debt as well as options for managing other debts that may be on the horizon - such as expiring forbearances on mortgages or student loan payments.
  5. Assess Your Credit: Are you looking to take out a mortgage or make another large purchase in the New Year? A checkup is a great time to review your credi treport to see where you stand, and get tips to improve your score moving forward.

Your Checkup Starts Here

Your financial fitness is key to a healthy New Year. GreenPath's caring, certified counselors are committed to easing financial stress and worry through access to clear information.

For more information about financial wellness, visit our partner at GreenPath Financial Wellness.

Greenpath Financial Wellness