With fall around the corner and the Financial Blogger Conference over, it’s time to review how we’re doing with our finances this year. Overall we’re doing pretty well, keeping up with our goals for 2012. The first two are over, leaving us with paying down the student loan.
That has been going fine this year. The last two months were slower to accommodate work trip expenses, but things are picking up again this month. I’ll continue updating our progress on this site. Now I want to talk about something related to our financial goals that will be given some more attention – getting our freedom fund done. It’s more of a long term goal, but it’s something that is a part of our family’s overall goals.
What’s a Freedom Fund?
Before I discuss how we set up the savings account, I want to define what we mean when we say freedom fund. When I first wrote about it awhile back I mentioned that we’d like to have some money set aside to smooth an employement transition should my husband choose to become self-employed.
It’s also to help us reach our other financial goals while respecting each other’s money styles. First off, let me say that even though my husband and I are on the same page when it comes to goals, how we get there can be a different matter. My husband is a fantastic saver. I like to optimize and get things done right away. Usually those two go hand in hand, but sometimes we disagree on what to do.
For example, let’s take the student loan, if it were completely up to me, I would do it a bit like Dave Ramsey and use almost all of our savings (except for 2 months of expenses) and pay a huge chunk towards our student loan. I would absolutely love to see that balance be knocked down a few pegs. My husband, on the other hand, is a bit more conservative. Paying the student is great as long as he has $x amount in the bank as the safety net.
I think $x amount is a bit much, but for me it’s about both of us having peace of mind when our head rests on the pillow at night. With the freedom fund we can create a hybrid approach. We can tuck away money in the account, letting it grow. Every couple of months, if we haven’t had an unexpected event happen we’ll transfer a portion of that money to the student loan. We have a safety net and we get the student loan paid down.
Having a plan we just needed a bank that could work for us on this special project.
Gaining an Ally for Our Savings
When I was in Denver last week one of my goals was to learn more about the financial services, products, and people that are out there. As you heard me mention in my weekly review, I got to work with Ally Bank on a fun social contest.
I got to meet some members of the team and chat with their about their services. So to keep off our project, we’ve opened an account with Ally Bank just for the freedom fund. Besides having a competitive interest rate, they also offer the essentials that we need for saving:
- Covered by FDIC
- No monthly maintenance fee
- $0 required minimum balance
Thoughts on Building a Freedom Fund
I’d love to hear from you about your short and long term savings plans. What goals do you have as a couple? Do you two have to compromise on your financial plans to make both happy? How do you do it?
Photo Credit: PHOTOS8.COM
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