Sound Money Management and Marriage Major Goals for Security

Security is a major goal of marriage. It is also the goal of sound personal money management.

Family life has little strength or cohesion without security. There is a place in family life for spontaneity, to be sure, and for a certain spirit of adventure. But unless there is the reassuring knowledge that emergencies (needing finances) can be met and weathered, the morale of the entire family is threatened by anxiety.

Security, in its broadest sense, includes a great deal more than money. It means the emotional strength derived from knowing that you love and are loved; that you are meeting your responsibilities – including financial – to those who depend on you; and that you are living the sort of life which gives you a chance to express the best that is in you. True security depends on your personal relationships and the satisfactions you get from your work, as well as upon your financial soundness.

Financial security is measured not by the amount of money you earn, but by what you do with that money. Many of the things you buy contribute to your security – your home and its furnishings, for example. The money you do not spend – the money you save, instead – is the bulwark of your security.

Your Emergency Fund

Each family has its own goals for savings. A common goal is to build a “emergency fund” a “rainy day fund” – a sum on which you can easily lay your hands in case of an unforeseen emergency. Unless you have ready cash of this type, you can have little peace of mind. How large this fund should be is a matter of personal judgment. Some emergencies make such heavy financial demands that it is difficult to meet them out of the savings the average family can accumulate. It is a mistake to be so worried about the blow that may never fall that you deny yourself and your family all immediate pleasures in order to build a large emergency fund. Most families find it realistic to build this fund to an amount equal to two month’s income – 3 to 6 months of monthly expenses is what most finance experts recommend. You should start building that sum at the very outset of your marriage. Once it is accumulated, cherish it. Spend it only when you feel that you are facing a real emergency – a decision in which both husband and wife should agree.