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Marriage&Money

Setting Up Your Financial Household

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What about the “moneymoon?”

It’s when the wedding is over and life together begins — including your financial life.

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Marriage and Money checklist

Creating a few simple plans in the beginning of your relationship.Create a household budget and stick to it!

Pay down any debt accrued before you got married.

Start saving for your future together.

Plan for the unexpected.

As a couple, create a total financial game plan.

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Create a budget you can both live with.

35% Housing20% Transportation15% Debt20% Other10% Savings

More than 70% of couples say they talk to their partner about money at least once a week. — Smart Money, November 2003

35%Housing

20%Transportation

15%Debt

20%Other

10%Savings

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Learn the debt dos and don’ts.

DO break your bad debt habits.

DON’T delay paying off credit cards completely.

DO communicate honestly about your spending habits.

DON’T abuse your credit.

Starting a new marriage with a huge debt load can be burdensome.

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DO break your bad debt habits.

What’s more of a financial downer than

debt?

Two people’s debt!

The average household with one or more credit cards owes more than $8,000 on those cards.— Parade, July 13, 2003

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DON’T delay paying off credit cards completely.

The average American household pays about $1,000 in credit card interest per year.— Money.CNN.com, January 18, 2004

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DO communicate honestly about your spending habits.

According to a survey, almost 40% of men and women admitted lying about how much something they bought had cost.— Smart Money, November 2003

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DON’T abuse your credit.

Impulse purchases can really hurt.

As of September 30, 2004, 1.61 million bankruptcies were filed.— Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, December 3, 2004

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Save for a rainy day… and more.

Saving and investing is key.

Emergencies: enough to cover 3 months of expenses

Short Term Goals: save up for big ticket expenses

Child’s Education: starting early makes a difference

Retirement: Social Security can’t do it all

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Saving for: emergencies

According to a recent survey, only 28% of households said they have enough money saved to weather a financial hardship.— Money, April 2007

It’s essential to have cash on hand.

A good goal to shoot for: enough money to cover three months of core expenses.— Parade, January 19, 2007

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Saving for: short term goals

Wants and Needs:Summer vacation

New appliances

Travel

Big-ticket expenses

It’s better to pay cash than get locked into high interest credit card debt.

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Saving for: retirement

Are you among the 30% of workers that haven’t saved a dime for retirement?— Kiplinger’s, March 2004

Start saving and investing now, because Social Security can’t do it all.

The average Social Security benefit check pays just $922 a month.— SSA.gov, “Social Security Basic Facts,” May 2004

Could you and your spouse live on that?

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Plan for tomorrow… today

Discuss with your spouse a game plan if something unexpected should happen.

Term life insuranceA will

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A Will

Talk about each other’s wishes if one of you should die.

A will gives legally binding instructions for:

The distribution of your property

The care of your children if you pass away

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Get your financial snapshot.

Planning for the unexpected, saving for retirement, paying off debt … as you start your new life together, does all of this seem too hard?

It doesn’t have to be.