Emergency! What Emergency!

According to a recent New York Times article, married couples who argue over money at least once a week are 30% more likely to suffer through a divorce. Now whether that is more indicative of a communication fissure rather than arguing over why there is too much month left at the end of money, is left to question. However, couples that make a concerted effort to discuss finances, organize their present and plan for the future may find they communicate better at the end of that process. The most critical component of planning, is an emergency fund. Not a credit card with a high limit, or an open line of home equity, but an honest to goodness 3-6 months of expenses set aside in a savings account labeled “ break glass in case of emergency”. Life happens, cancer happens, accidents happen, water heaters blow-up and transmissions go out. If debt is our savior in those situations, we are adding financial stress to the already overloaded back of marriage.
The emergency fund is representative of more than just money waiting for bad things to happen. The emergency fund is a symptom of healthy communication, planning, and is a couple exercising their rights to be financially aware. Planning, lessens the blow that life can and will deliver to us. Planning for bad is not  negative thinking, moreover, it’s the purest form of positive mindset you can display. Together, we can acknowledge we have no control over what happens, but we do have power over our response. We think so highly of our marriages, relationships, loved ones, and lives that we are willing to build a war-chest to provide security in our darkest days. It’s recognizing we have the ability to beat anything, if we equip ourselves the right way. When we’re ready, we are less infatuated with the storm on the horizon because we have planned for it, it’s no big deal, bring it on! we’re ready!

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