• Topics: Family Youth and Community Sciences  | Financial Planning  | Banking and Saving  |  Turner, Josephine  | Torres, Nayda I  |  Mitchell, Vervil L 

Money and Marriage: Saving for Future Use¹

There are a lot of good reasons why you should save money. For one thing, it's the only way you can efficiently manage your money and budget your expenses. You may already have a saving plan or you may just stick your dollars in a shoe-box at home. (That's a bad way to treat hard-earned cash.) But chances are, there are a lot of things you may not know about this important aspect of money control.

First, you should understand the difference between saving and investing. Saving is setting aside money for use -- in a commercial bank, savings and loan or credit union. You get some return on your money, but you're mainly looking for absolute safety and easy withdrawal. There's not much point in saving for a rainy day if you can't get your money out when it's most needed.

Investing, on the other hand, means putting money to work to earn more money. There's always some risk involved when you invest.

Savings Give You Status

When your income is low and prices are high, you are likely to neglect saving. The family should realize the importance of saving regularly. Regular and planned savings require an appreciation of the value of saving. It requires constant sacrifice and self-denial now with the expectation of greater satisfaction in the future.

How much of your income goes into savings will vary with your income, goals, responsibilities, needs, habits, interests and family size. Set up a habit of saving money on a definite percentage basis. Five to ten percent of your take-home pay is a good beginning.

Saving for a Purpose

People usually save with a purpose in mind. It might be for a short-term goal such as a vacation, a car, a refrigerator or a DVD. Money put aside today is used tomorrow for specific goods, services or pleasures. This kind of saving is necessary for financial security.

At some period in the life of a family, emergencies make demands on the money income; sudden illness of a member of the family or damage done to the house by a storm. To meet emergency needs, try to reserve at least three months' income.

Saving can be fun if you look forward to some greater future pleasures. A regular plan for saving shows good money management. Are you willing to make a plan that will help you reach a desirable and a pleasant long-term goal? It could be a college education for the children, a mortgage-free home or even financial security after retirement.

Investments for Financial Security

When we speak of investing, we usually think of securities. A security investment usually refers to stocks, bonds, mutual funds, notes or mortgages. There are also investments made in real property and other assets -- the traditional net worth items.

The next investment category is durables; such as furniture, works of art, silver and china.

The third category is family health and education and that which contributes to the cultural and social improvement of the community. It is not the purpose of this leaflet, however, to discuss these types of investments.

A family usually should not make investments in securities, such as stocks and bonds (except government saving bonds), until after it has established an emergency savings fund equal to at least three months take home pay. First, have a reasonable amount of life insurance and make your home secure from debt foreclosures.

Saving for a Reserve or Emergency Fund

Many families look at savings as a dream. Who can save when it is difficult to make the money last from one paycheck to the next one? The traditional way of saving (that of putting money aside) is harder, but not impossible.

But families need savings. Families may be building up financial security in several ways, such as paying into Social Security or some other retirement fund. They may be buying a home and equipment; such as washers, dryers, refrigerators and furniture. They may be buying bonds or other savings by having the cost deducted from their paychecks. These are ways family assets are accumulated and net worth increased.

If we think of saving as using resources wisely in order to avoid waste, then we find that every family saves to some extent. This year's winter coat is saved to wear again next year. Leftover food is saved for another meal. This type of saving can be accomplished by any family regardless of income.

Reserve or Emergency Fund

Most, if not all, families need a reserve or emergency fund. Establishing this fund should be one of the first things a family does. The purpose of the reserve or emergency fund can include anything from holiday gifts to illness. The reserve fund will probably be used a great deal and should be in holdings that can be turned into cash quickly and without loss.

The reserve fund should be considered as only one part of a family's protection plan. However, for many families this may be the only form of financial reserve.

A Reserve Fund Can Help

A reserve fund can help you in a number of ways. A reserve fund will give you peace of mind. Most families experience a major crisis every few years when they need extra funds to tide them over. It could be reduction in work and/or pay, or perhaps unemployment or crop failure. It could be large dental or medical bills which insurance covers only in part. Someone once observed that when you have a reserve fund, there never seems to be an emergency; but without such a savings account, the financial crises seem to arrive daily.

A reserve fund provides buying power. You can take advantage of some opportunities as they occur. Many people miss opportunities because they lack money. These opportunities may be anything from buying a new suit in January for $80 instead of $150 in the next season, to buying tires for the car or Christmas gifts in July.

A reserve fund provides earning power. Benjamin Franklin said, "Money begets money and its offspring begets more." He meant that money left in a savings account will grow. Franklin proved this. In 1791, he gave $5000 to the residents of Boston with the provision that the money be allowed to accumulate for 100 years. By that time, the fund had grown to $400,000.

Money invested at 5 percent interest will double itself in just over 14 years. It will double itself in 12 years at 6 percent and in just over 10 years at 7 percent. Dividing the rate of interest into 72 will give you approximately the amount of time it takes money to double.

A reserve fund can be used as security. You can use your reserve fund as security to borrow money at favorable interest rates.

How Much Is Needed?

There are no hard and fast rules about how much money you should set aside for your reserve or emergency fund. How much you can and should set aside for your reserve or emergency fund depends on your family size, income, level of living, spending habits, job security and outlook, and your particular financial needs.

Most money management authorities agree that an amount equal to three to nine months' income is a desirable and realistic goal for most people. In times of low interest rates, you may need more money set aside in an emergency fund. An amount equal to six months' income can be accumulated in five years by saving 10 percent of your pay every payday. Some people may need a larger reserve fund than others. People who, because of the nature of their work, can expect job layoffs need larger funds than those on salaried jobs.

When trying to decide how much you need in a reserve fund, ask yourself some questions. You might start with these:

• How much protection is provided by my health, accident and disability insurance policies, government aid (such as unemployment compensation), accumulated sick or annual leave and other resources?

• How many members of my family are working?

• What are my family's essential financial needs?

• Could non-working family members go to work?

• How many fixed obligations do we have?

• How much available credit do we have? Are our credit cards maxed out?

• What financial help could we expect parents, other relatives or employer to give?

• How close do we live to parents or siblings?

• Are we near retirement?

• How old are the children?

The amount you put into your reserve fund is important, but it is not as important as the regularity with which you save. Small, but regular, savings can add up to a significant amount over a period of years.

When you reach your goal for a reserve fund, the amount usually added to the fund can be used for other wants and needs. Remember, as money in the fund is used, replace it.

Commercial banks, savings and loan associations (S&Ls), thrift companies and credit unions are the most common places to open a savings account. The funds you put in savings accounts provide the necessary cash that enables banks and other financial institutions to provide loans to other people. In a sense, this money is "rented out" in the form of loans used for construction, to buy a house, to make home improvements, to buy a car and so forth.

Interest Can Be Interesting

When you open a savings account, the bank agrees to pay interest on the amount of money (deposit) you put in it. Say, for example, you deposit $100 and the interest rate is 5 percent a year. Twelve months later, you will have $105 in the account. The more you save and the higher the interest rate, the more money your original deposit will earn. (See Table 1.)

Banks can afford to do this because they charge more interest on a loan than they pay on a savings account. In short, savers earn money from the amount borrowers have to pay to use their savings.

Suppose You Save at Six Percent Interest

The actual amount you earn on your account depends on how frequently the bank or savings and loan compounds the interest. Here is an example of interest earned on a $1000 deposit saved for one year at six percent interest.

If you don't already have a savings account, start one today. And even if you do have one, check around to make sure you're getting the most for your money.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.

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