Finances: Preparing for you financial future

  Family/Friends             Children           Misc             Home

More important than the cake, flowers or even the invitations is preparing for your financial future together. Make a date to sit down, discuss your goals and expectations and come up with a plan for an effective merger of your financial lives. It may not sound romantic, but considering that quarreling over money is one of the biggest causes of marital discord, a money talk may be just what Cupid ordered.

Finances: Separate or Combine Them
~Some couples set up a joint account for household expenses that fosters unity and trust. Both people contribute based on their income while keeping separate accounts for personal spending. The key is to find a system that works for you.

~Consider your individual money styles. If you are a saver and your partner is a spender, you might find managing an all-purpose joint account too nerve wracking and opt for a combo approach or separate accounts entirely.

Handling Daily Spending Decisions
One of the first tasks newlyweds should tackle is creating a budget. Sit down together and plot out how much you expect to spend on groceries, clothes, eating out and other household expenses.

Budget doesn't need to be a  four letter word!

~Discuss other spending issues, such as how much each of you can spend without consulting the other. You probably don't want to discuss every $5 purchase, but you don't want to come home from work and unexpectedly find a new vehicle in the driveway, either.

Who’s responsible for paying the bills and preparing the taxes?
My husband and I both contribute to cover the bills, but he's the one who physically writes the checks and hashes out the taxes. You might find splitting the duties works well in your relationship. No arrangement should leave your husband/wife in the dark, though.
Tips:
~We go over the budget, review our saving strategies and progress, and discuss upcoming expenses, such as vacations and big-ticket purchases together.
~Paying your bills electronically is a great way to reduce the burden of this task. Also, Quicken or Microsoft Money is a great tool to organize and track your finances.
No matter who ends up handling the bills in your marriage, make sure each partner knows where to find all the different account information, including Web sites, passwords and bill due dates in case anything should happen and the other person needs to take over the responsibilities.

What are our insurance options?
Adding a spouse to your health insurance may be cheaper than maintaining separate plans. Consider your specific health needs, then look at the costs and benefits of each person's plan choosing.
~Combining auto-insurance coverage will save you money. ~Make sure you have enough homeowners or renters insurance to protect your combined possessions.
~What about life insurance? Do you need it? If you already have some, either privately or through an employer, do you need to change your beneficiary information?

Debt
Make a pact to pay off your debts. Start with the balances that carry the highest interest rates. (Find out what it will take to pay off your balances.) You may choose to work individually or collectively to pay off debts you accrued before the wedding, but don't add each other's names to your obligations. Consolidate student loans to lock in record-low rates but again, don't merge your loans with your spouse's. The commingled debt would be nearly impossible to untangle should you ever divorce, and if one of you were to default, the other would be left holding the bag.