Getting married is an exciting and joyous occasion. However, after the joy and glam of the big day subsides comes the less exciting and often least considered aspect of marriage, MONEY. Although marriage should never be based around monetary wants or needs, having a thorough discussion and planning session with your significant other before saying "I Do" can save many headaches and possibly the dreaded "I Wish I Hadn't" later on down the road.
Planning the Marriage Finances and Forming a Budget
The first and often best thing to do before getting married is to check each others' credit reports. This small, but invaluable snapshot of a person’s financial history will give a good idea of who is best suited to manage the household finances. Also, it will give you a good representation of what the flow of money in and out of the house will be, giving you a good base off of which you can form a budget.
The next step should involve you and your future spouse sitting down and forming an initial budget. Matters that should be covered are:
- Combined Gross Income
- Current Expenses
- Expected Future Expenses
- Wedding Costs
- Family Planning, ect.
Many times couples often forget to include future expenses into their financial plans (i.e. buying a house, having children, college, etc.). By including these considerations you will be able form a realistic budget, taking unnecessary stress out of the marriage, making the honeymoon all the more better.
Getting a Joint Account or Keeping Separate Accounts
Although figuratively, getting married makes two people become one, the reality is that getting married does not change the fact that you and your spouse are two different people, each with their own needs and wants. So the best answer to, “Should we get a joint account or should we keep separate accounts?” is you should do both!
The income coming into the household should go directly to the joint account at first. Based off the budget that you have in place, determine how much money will be needed to cover all the household expenses (i.e. car, house, groceries, etc.). This amount is to be left in the joint account to pay for the bills. The rest, less the money you are planning to save, should be divided equally between you and your spouse and sent to your separate accounts for discretionary spending.
Example; (Monthly) Gross Income = $4000, Expenses = $2200, Savings = $300. This leaves $1500 left over at the end of the month. So $750 should be sent to the respective spouse’s accounts to be used as discretionary spending.
Allowing you and your spouse to each have their own money to be used on personal wants is instrumental in eliminating arguments over who is spending the most money. With this system in place the marriage is sure to be considered fair and neither spouse will be able to legitimately accuse the other of excessive spending or unfairness with the money.
Be Flexible and Constantly Review the Finances with Your Spouse
Just as marriage is a joint decision, so should any decision made regarding the marriage finances. Always remember that financial situations change, and what worked the day you got married will not work a year or two down the road. By making it a regular habit of discussing the finances with your partner, you ensure that all financial decisions within the marriage are fair and that neither you nor your spouse feels as if they have no control over the money. This will help to keep stress over money away and your marriage strong. What a great way to begin an everlasting union!
