Something Borrowed, Something Saved.

My London based daughter came home again on Thursday for a long weekend, this time to go wedding dress shopping with the ladies of the family. The girls had a get-together the evening before the big dress shopping extravaganza, and since wedding talk was firmly on the agenda, I was duly exiled to my sunroom for the night. I’m pleased to report it was a successful mission and the bride said yes to a dress.

One of the greatest benefits of the wedding planning has been the regular visits home of my daughter. I’ve seen more of her these last few months than any time since she moved to London. But there’s also been another great benefit, one I’d nearly given up on with the future bride, something I’ve been unsuccessful with for at least the last ten years. Saving money for the future.

Although my wife Suzie and I are basically covering all the big ticket items for the wedding with some help from the groom’s parents, there’s still a multitude of smaller purchases that come with organising such an important event. The reality of this spending has burst the bubble of my daughter’s habit of living and spending in the moment.

During a quiet moment over her visit she said to me “dad, I need to start saving and being more careful with my money, I should have listened to you when you were bugging me to save every payday.” Sweet music to my ears. She’s heading back to London this afternoon as the proud owner of an interest bearing savings account with an auto payment set up for the day after her pay lands in her checking account. Absolutely marvellous.

While we sorted the savings account out I reassured her that me and her mum would always have her back, but also pointed out that the only reason that was possible was because of regular, disciplined saving over our lifetime. That’s what allows you to handle lumpy spending like weddings and other big expenses without it becoming a problem.

I’m happy at this turn of the tide for my slightly spendthrift daughter. It’s baby steps and early days, but I’m reasonably certain the automatic payment into her savings will quietly disappear into the noise of living and slowly start to grow and compound for her future needs. It might only be the start of an emergency fund, but it’s more than I’ve managed to achieve with her in the last decade.

Who would have thought? A wedding, the current most important event in my daughter’s life, could be the catalyst for something just as important — jump-starting the savings habit that will be a central pillar to lean on during the challenges that marriage and life will surely bring.

I should probably confess, when setting up that savings account I couldn’t help myself, and topped it up afterwards to make sure she hit the top interest rate tier. Now I just need to figure out how to tell my wife Suzie…I’ll bring that up on the way back from the airport this afternoon!