Before Your Wedding - What YOU Need to DO First
The day you have been waiting has happened and you both are excited about the future and your upcoming wedding. But, before you start thinking about that beautiful Galia Lahav dress or that Issey Miyake tuxedo, there are a few caveats to consider in order to move forward: your debts and budget.
Budgets are a necessary evil - they are the only practical way to get a grip on your spending and to make sure your money is being used the way you want it to be used. So, creating a budget generally requires three steps - identify how you are spending money now, evaluate your current spending and set goals that take into account your long-term financial objective- this would be Your Wedding Day - 6/20/22; used as an example.
After your engagement and reveling in the moment, your next step is to think about the type of wedding you both would like to have. Whether, it's an elegant, a rustic, or a simple/chic, micro wedding; do you want bridesmaids or groomsmen or not. Along the same line, you want to have an idea of how many people you would like to have celebrate your big day with you. Before you even think about how many guests, make sure you both have the money talk, the bill talk (who owes what and how much, etc)
Once you have figured out your wedding style and the number of guests; our rule of thumb will help you to figure out this. The next step is to decide how far off you want your wedding to take place- one year, two years or three years from the date you got engaged. (This is two folds: Gives you enough time to pay off any existing bills and gives you time to save for your day) Our example shows 3 years. By doing this, you allow yourself to put away enough for your wedding day.
Wedding Savings
We suggest putting away at least 20% (depending on your wedding style and number of guests) of your incomes in an interest-bearing account. This could be a money market account or bonds.
Why Money Market Accounts Are The New Black
With this account, you can keep adding funds and closeout when you are ready and not suffer any penalty for closing out early. We looked at Sallie Mae [don't think of them as only student loans, they offer other services] rates and we liked what we found.
They received a health rating of A+ and is FDIC. Check out their CDs, while you are there. Keep in mind, this option (CDs) does not allow you to keep funding the account and there is no early withdrawal. However, you could use this option to put away for a house together.
The 3 Reasons Bonds Could Help You Plan Your Dream Wedding
There are different types, so choose the one that best meets your needs. Bonds are probably think "safe," "reliable" and "boring." Bonds can provide a worry-free stream of income. Treasury Securities
1. T-bills (are short-term government securities with maturities ranging from a few days to 52 weeks. Bills are sold at a discount from their face value.)
2. T-Notes (are government securities that are issued with maturities of 2, 3, 5, 7, and 10 years and pay interest every six months.). For example, our wedding 6/20/22, we would close the account a year before the wedding so that we can have the funds available.
3. T-Bonds (pay interest every six months and mature in 30 years.).
Choose wisely!
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Looking to pop the question this year!? Read this | 5 Financial Tips to Take First
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