Getting married is a time of joy for any couple. The thought of living the rest of your life with your best friend is normally all-consuming during the wedding planning time, and any other additional thoughts are placed on the wedding planning itself. There are reservations to be booked, dresses to be bought, and table settings to be picked. However, during this planning time, very few couples take the time to discuss the future of their finances.
In this day and age, it is likely the couple has made joint purchases and financial investments prior to marriage. Even before marriage, the couple should have a firm financial plan in place so that the metaphorical flight does not crash before it even takes off.
To take that point further, even these types of combined finances need to be discussed further when actually taking marriage into consideration. Whether you have already arranged for your living quarters, and shared certain finances or not; post-marriage financial adjustments are different and can place strain on a relationship if not planned for and discussed. In order to promote the healthiest relationship possible, remember that a firm financial plan can prevent a diversion from what should be the happiest time in the young couple’s life.
Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce and a majority of couples that go through a divorce blame finances as a major reason for any irreconcilable differences they may have had. If you want your marriage and your bank statements to be healthy, discuss your finances prior to the wedding day.
Take into account each others’ salaries, spending habits, and saving habits. Does your current job offer health benefits, but your spouse’s doesn’t? Factor in what it will cost you to put your spouse on your healthcare plan, and how that will affect your saving and spending. Does your spouse have a fairly new car, but you know you will need one in the near future? Factor in what a car payment will do to your salary, and determine if your spouse will be able to help you.
Because you will be legally bound, you also need to factor in the cost of life insurance and other necessary policies that will be needed to protect you or your spouse in case one of you becomes unemployed or deceased. You will also need to plan for retirement as a couple, and factor in any large expenditures that you plan on having together such as children or a home.
Ideally, you want to make sure that your spouse has spending and saving habits that compliment your own. If you love to shop with your credit card and your spouse does too, you could be setting yourselves up for financial, and eventually marriage, failure. You also want to make sure that your future goals are similar as well because they can and will affect your finances.
As a newly married couple, you will want to take care of your spouse. However, you don’t want to put yourself or both of you in a position where sharing finances will cause additional stress on your marriage. The first year of marriage is already tough enough; don’t add to it by not adequately discussing your finances and financial goals together first.
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