Broker Check

Important Conversations to Have with Your Spouse About Finances

August 07, 2019

Marriage is about joining your life completely with someone else’s. It’s not what’s his is hers or what’s hers is his. No one said it’s easy when it comes to having to share your entire life. Studies revealed one of the top issues married couples fight about is money. It’s known that money isn’t just currency and a fixed number, it comes with emotional attachments and value. A best practice would be to center your discussions around your goals, feelings, and the overall vision of what you and your spouse would like for your family’s life to look like.

  • Budgeting – Creating a budget is essential to a successful relationship. It’ll help you and your spouse determine where your money goes, how you’ll spend it, and how much you’ll need to save all based on your goals as a couple and as a family. What’s our combined income? Do we each have our own financial accounts or combined them? How much do we accumulate in expenses a month? Are we prepared for emergency expenses?
  • Children – Another important topic many couples discuss before and after marriage is whether or not they’ll have children and if so, how many. If you both decide you want kids, it’s time to think about how you’ll be balancing childcare and your careers. How will we be covering their college tuition amongst many other expenses in raising children? Will one of us stay home with the kids? How will that spouse and kids be covered if something happens to the working spouse? Do we have a life insurance policy in place?
  • Debts – Almost everyone comes into marriage with some sort of debt and then there’ll be debts you’ve accumulated together such as mortgage, credit cards, and automobile. Think about your strategy and approach as a couple and how you’ll tackle these expenses with your overall budget in mind. How much debt do we each have? Will each take care of our own debt or collectively? How big of a house do we really need? Can we afford a big mortgage? Do we really need two or three cars?
  • Retirement –Today, Americans are living longer and living longer requires a larger nest egg to support a longer retirement. Discuss each of your retirement dreams and how to you and your spouse plan to achieve them. At what age do we want to retire? Where do we want to retire? What sort of hobbies or trips do we want to take in retirement? How will that affect our budget? How will we take care of each other when we’re both unable? Will we have budgeted enough for long-term care? Should we consider long-term care insurance?

Cultivating a solid marriage takes time and work and more importantly, it requires communication. It starts with a simple conversation and you’re well on the way towards a fruitful marriage. As your dedicated team, we’re here for you and your significant other. Call us and we can help guide you in making informed decisions for your future together.

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