Getting Married & Money

It’s Wedding Season!

Getting married is one of the most exciting and most anxious events in your entire life. It can bring many challenges into your life that you and your spouse will have to face!

Challenges like: Who is going to take the trash out? Are you going to try to make the bed every morning? Who cooks? Who cleans?

I know, you have a lot to decide and work through.

One thing that is often overlooked is Money. Now, whether this is intentional or not, these conversations are often neglected, and it can lead to serious issues down the road. We don’t want that to happen.

So, in this blog post, we are going to look at a few suggestions to help you in your next conversation about money!

Let’s dive in!

1. Planning: The Starting Line

• Ask yourself what you want to achieve, what your priorities are, and how you feel about those.
• Make those expectations known.
• Determine how you want to handle/ manage your finances (Budget, Obligations, & Investments).

“EXPECTATIONS ARE RESENTMENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN”
BRENE BROWN

Ok, First: I am by no means a marriage expert, or a marriage counselor, but I do know that if you don’t make your expectations known, you are going to have trouble making any progress, and that’s just going to lead to frustration, so let’s avoid that. The same concept applies to money – So ask yourself:

1. Are you a spender or saver?
2. Do you have specific goals you want to achieve (Getting out of debt sooner, retiring early, paying for education for your children)?
3. How do you budget? How much does that differ from your future spouse?
4. How do you feel about risk when it comes to investing?
5. What are your opinions on debt?

We are just laying the foundation here – It is important that you are on the same page and you both know what to expect!

Second: How you decide to manage your money makes a huge difference in achieving those goals. If you have already been keeping good habits, then this should be a “no-brainer” for you. If you are not, then I highly encourage you to find a method to keep track of what is going on – And I am not just talking about a budget here – It may be in your best interest to have a place for your important documents (Marriage Certificate, Car Registrations, Passports, Social Security Cards, etc…).

Ask me for my Personal Document Locator Template – I will send it to you!

In addition, you may want to have a budget template that you use every month to keep track of income and expenses, as well as a balance sheet to record your assets and liabilities.

Find my budgeting template here >> Budgeting Template

2. Actually Managing Your Finances: This is where the fun begins

• Get organized in these major categories: (Asset Allocation, Retirement, Insurance, Estate Planning).
• Talk about your situation.
• Be consistent.

This is definitely going to be the bulk of this post, so bear with me. Your major categories to pay attention to are: Asset Allocation, Retirement, Insurance, & Estate Planning. Honestly, the same can be said if you aren’t about to get married, but the importance is doubled when you have a spouse.

Asset Allocation

Ok, so let’s talk money management. Personally, I believe that you should combine your finances when you get married. Among other reasons, it’s just a lot easier to manage. But it is something you will need to decide for yourself when the time comes – I would just encourage you to at least talk about what you are going to do.

This is also where the balance sheet will come into play:

1. Are you keeping a record of our assets (Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts, Investment Accounts, IRAs, 401(k)s?
   1. How are you invested (Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Real Estate)?
   2. Has size/frequency of investments been determined?
2. How are you keeping track of your debts? Who is responsible for making payments? Are you on Auto-Pay?
3. Are you actively saving? For what? How is that managed?
4. How have you managed credit?
5. Can you easily repeat your system?

Insurance Planning

Insurance is also important, especially when it comes to cost. You never know where you are going to save. Look into bundling car insurance, homeowners insurance, etc…

Check-List Questions:

1. Is health insurance needed? Are you covered by an employer plan? Which plan are you going to choose?
2. To what extent have you considered life insurance? What about disability insurance?
3. Have you selected beneficiaries?

So, a lot of the insurance questions have multiple parts to it and it can get complicated. If it were me, I would make sure I know who my contacts are, and where I am supposed to make payments and when. That will keep it all from getting jumbled up.

Retirement Planning

This is a big one! The Employee Benefit Research Institute reports that only 42% of American workers have calculated how much they need to save for retirement. It is certainly a conversation you will want to have with your future spouse:

1. Are you saving for retirement? How?
2. How is that money invested?
3. When do you plan on retiring? Do you want to retire early?
4. Have you calculated how much you need in retirement?
5. Do you plan to move in retirement?

You may not know many of these details – but this may help open up the conversation to talk about it!

Estate Planning

If you are married, estate planning can make a massive impact. Consult an attorney to help you get set up with a few of these things. And especially if you have children, make sure you are on the same page so that if something were to happen to you or your spouse, you are protected.

1. Is there a will? Does one need to be drawn up?
2. Do you have a trust?
3. Have you thought about a life insurance beneficiaries?
4. Have health directives been established?
5. Have you considered power of attorney?

Basically, what a lot of these questions boil down to is: WHAT IS THE PLAN? I know, super fun to talk about.

3. Reviewing Your Progress: Celebrating Your Wins Together

• Find a strategy that works for you and your spouse.
• Use your resources.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Strategy

Strategies are hard. Marriage is a give and take. There may be seasons where one spouse is doing more of the budgeting, investing, buying groceries, paying bills, while the other is busy with school or working. But the key here is consistency. I’ll say it now and I’ll say it again. Find a strategy that works for you that you can do consistently.

1. How are you reviewing your progress? What progress have you made?
2. Do spending or savings goals need to change? How are you going to implement that?
3. What is your process for adding new goals (Major Expenses, emergencies)?
4. How do you handle changes in income or a big bonus? Where is that money allocated?
5. How do you celebrate wins?

Celebrate your wins together. Pay off debt? Celebrate! New promotion? Celebrate!

Lastly, use your resources and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

A more concise checklist of the questions above is available under the Resource Tab on the Home Page of the website. Check it out! And feel free to download if it would be helpful for you and your spouse!

Money can be a difficult topic to approach, especially when you are getting married. You may be coming to the table with different goals or outlooks on money, and that is ok. Take advantage of the people and resources available to you. Financial Advisors can be a good place to start. I post about personal finance issues weekly on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook so check those out if you want to learn more!

As always, if you think you or someone you could benefit from having a conversation, feel free to reach out using the Contact Us or Refer Us pages on my website.

All the Best,
Gil Brandon IV, AAMS™
Financial Advisor

Any opinions are those of Gil Brandon IV and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Expressions of opinion are as of this date and are subject to change without notice. There is no guarantee that these statements, opinions, or forecasts provided in the attached article will prove to be correct. Individual results may vary. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.