After you have provided for the necessities of life, part of your income should always go into one or more savings “pots,” each for a different purpose. These may include, an emergency fund, a fund for future large planned expenses such as holidays, vacations, furniture, automobiles, and retirement and long term investment savings. Our staff at F&M Trust can assist you in determining the best savings or investment services to meet your particular needs.
You should prioritize periodic and systematic savings for an emergency fund. No one plans to have an emergency; however, being prepared for the inevitable unexpected expense, such as an appliance failure, illness, or leaking roof, will assure it doesn’t derail all the hard work you’ve done in getting your financial life on track.
Emergency savings dollars should be easy to get to in the case of true need, in a separate account from your daily budget account. Putting them in a designated account may help you avoid the temptation to tap your Emergency Fund for an impulse purchase.
Most experts recommend keeping 6–9 months of your recurring household expenses in an emergency fund. This way, if you do lose your job unexpectedly, or become ill and cannot work, you can still pay your bills and keep your credit score from taking a hit.
Remember: An emergency fund is unlike long-term saving & investing or saving for planned major purchases or expenses. An emergency fund is for emergencies and nothing else.
Debt is no one’s friend. After you have put plans in place for emergency spending, your next step is to create a similar, but separate, fund for planned major purchases or expenses. For example, if you want a new TV, you will have a savings account dedicated to saving for that new TV.
Saving toward a large purchase will help you stay out of debt and make owning that purchase more valuable to you in the end. Vacations and holiday expenses can be planned for in advance in the same way.
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