8 Tips on Financial Planning for Newly Married Couples
Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value. _Joe Biden.
Financial management is always at the forefront of marital issues faced by newly married couples. It
is my wish that this few tips will help you and your spouse to acquire a
healthy financial habit and establish a cornerstone for a lifetime of financial
stability.
1.
Discuss issues dealing with finance: Don’t assume that love will put everything in place
when the time comes. Start at these early days to inquire about some financial
information from each other. For instance,
the type of account he/she uses, disclose the debt you owe, how you love
handling and spending money.
2.
Create a budget: It is necessary that both of you agree on a monthly budget. Discuss how you’re going to spend your income,
what you expect to spend in a month, have a joint expenditure, allocate for unforeseen
expenses.
3.
Have an emergency fund: This means that both of you will have a joint account
strictly to make provision for some unanticipated projects that may demand a huge budget. In order to prevent you from tapping into it at the slightest
temptation, I suggest you make it not easily accessible. Allow it to lie ‘fallow’.
4.
Keep a record of your expenditure: Sometimes women are better at this but it should
be a joint effort. You can create a spreadsheet to record all your expenditure.
This will work very well if both of you can be sincere.
5.
Distribute responsibility: There should be a division of responsibility which
will be based on the income of each spouse. The one with the higher income gets
the higher responsibility, there is nothing like gender inequality/equality
here. For instance, you can decide who pays the electric bill, children’s
school fees, house maintenance bill etc.
Read also: How to save a marriage on the brink of divorce
Read also: How to save a marriage on the brink of divorce
6.
Teamwork: Both of you must have a similar goal in mind. Try and be a source of
motivation to your spouse and encourage each other’s effort. You should know
that both of you are into this together and so the success of a lifelong
financial stability goes to both of you and not for one.
7.
Accountability: Always give your partner a reason to trust you by being accountable. Be able
to give an account of any expenses you
make and be sincere in disclosing your financial status to your spouse. For marriage
sake, your spouse should know how much you earn in a month.
8.
Give
your trust: don’t underestimate the competence of your spouse to handle
money, unless series of experience have shown you otherwise.
Do not mistake some of my points here, I’m not in any
way saying that a married person cannot have his/her personal pocket money, but
for the better running of a home (financially) the principle of ‘one flesh and one
bone’ should be applied.
Lastly, finance is always a delicate area in marriage
but with love and trust, newly married couples can form a healthy financial
management in earning, spending and saving. What strategy have you been using that works for you? What’s your experience in managing money with your spouse?
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