Family Finance: Top 11 Financial Planning Tips for Newly Married Couples
Family Finance: Top 11 Financial Planning Tips for Newly Married Couples: Marriage is not all about love alone, it also involves finances. For you to have a successful marriage you need to strategize how the financial part of your life will be.
Most people, these days are not ready for marriage they are ready for weddings. Having a successful married life depends on what you and your partner are ready to do to make it possible.
Financial problems are a major contributor of divorce by 36.7% according to Shelby B. Scott’s research.
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Before you walk down the aisle, it is important to look into your finances with your partner.
It is important to start your marriage life with the financial aspect even before the wedding.
It is common for women to dream of having a lavished wedding, but that all depends on what is in your bank.
Though your dream wedding can be achievable when planned and budgeted wisely.
A lot of couples still make the mistake of spending money on extraneous things just to have an expensive and lavished wedding, without thinking of what the future holds for them after the wedding.
People forget that weddings do not win awards for extravagance and surely another wedding will outshine yours.
What matters is not how big the wedding is, all that matters is the kind of life you two will have after it.
It will be absolutely unwise to take a loan to have a big wedding and then after begin to suffer it all together.
All the people you try to impress that they will eat and drink and talk about the wedding for a week or two and then it will all be in the past but you and your partner will still be together to face the heat.
Even though the wedding was a blast, will both of you be able to have a blissful marriage in terms of finances? This is a question you both must ask yourselves before taking this step.
Here are the basic steps to take to help you set your post-wedding finances on the right track as a couple.
Deliberate on Your Financial Status
Before taking that big step and commit to spending the rest of your lives together, you need to talk about how you will be spending your money after the wedding.
A lot of people are married but unhappy and the cause has to do with financial dilemmas.
The both of you need to know where you stand financially and how you can cope after the wedding
Money has a huge role to play when it comes to having a happy and healthy married life, so couples should dedicate time to discuss how they are going to manage their finances to avoid having money problems.
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For instance you both can have a discussion around your salaries, savings, debts, spending habits and also discuss if you both want to merge your bank accounts or have a separate account.
Learn to be Truthful about Your Finances
Honesty has to do with having an open and honest discussion about your financials, both past and future, and it is vital to your financial success as a couple. Everyone has their own money habits, which have been shaped by their past experiences.
Tackling money issues honestly and openly gives you a much better chance at having a strong, healthy financial relationship.
Make commitments to each other
No one cares more about your financial security than the two of you. Make a promise to each other to take joint responsibility and take steps to better your overall financial position by paying down debts, establishing a savings habit and investing in viable investment source for healthy long-term returns.
Plan Your Budget
Setting financial goals together should be your top priority. It is important that the goals are specific and achievable.
Set goals that are equally rewarding, so that you both will be motivated to achieve them. Depend on each other for support and encourage one another to stay focused.
Financial goals need budgets, as it enables you to manage your finances. Set a budget on your variables and fixed expenses.
Review your budget regularly to identify problem areas. When you encounter challenges, try not to get discouraged and adjust as often as needed to ensure financial success.
Embrace your differences
The most important money move you can make for your relationship is to embrace your differences. Try to understand each other and get the fact that you two are different people.
Understand that you cannot change feelings created by a lifetime of experience; instead, try to nurture the positive aspects of each of your lifestyles. There is no one “right” way to handle your finances, so managing your money styles may be the perfect solution
Plan Your Budget together.
Prepare your financial plans together, from your income, expenditure, taxes and even loans.
Set up a manageable system for your cash flow together.
Know where your money is going. Keep records of your spending.
Do not assume that because you are both working, that you have a lot more to spend.
Keep up to date records on all that you do so that nothing will come as a surprise.
Save Money for Emergency
Set up a savings account in both of your names and either set up an automatic transfer through your online bank app or take turns putting money into the account monthly.
Do so in order to have a way of tackling problems when they come. This helps to ease the weight of emergencies and makes you not to be stranded in case they come up
Set Priorities and Specific goals
Set priorities and specific goals and discuss them. Do not assume you both have the same goals without discussing them.
When planning for five-year blocks, you can set both intermediate and long-range goals without feeling you are being deprived forever.
Ensure the both of you know what you want at a particular time and how to achieve it.
Have an Insurance Scheme
Getting insured is a vital part of adulthood, especially as a couple. Discuss the best insurance plan to go for.
Sit down together and discuss finances at least once a month.
Consider how many kids you want. This will help you come up with at least an early-stage financial plan.
Streamline Your Income
Some of the best marriage advice you can follow is to always be honest about your debts, income, and budgeting history.
Marriage finances are a tricky topic, but it’s important that you discuss them regularly with your partner.
Discuss Values.
Sometimes different values make goal-setting difficult. An example is when one person wants to spend now and one wants to save for later, it can be a source of disagreement.
The same is true when one spouse tends to be less risk-oriented than the other about investments.
It is good to discuss about certain issues that will affect the marriage before implementing them to avoid any inconvenience.