People get married with the promise to love each other and stay together through thick and thin. However, love by itself does not suffice after marriage. Marriage comes with plenty of responsibilities, including financial ones. Many couples do not think about these before marriage and start having arguments when financial burdens begin to arise. Moreover, some couples end up splitting up over them.
The sensible thing to do is discuss financial responsibilities with your partner before marriage. It might come across as rude or unromantic to some, but it helps in the long run. It is always better to start a new relationship with mutual understanding and respect. That is the only way you can save your marriage from financial disaster.
15 Financial Advice You Must Know Before Marriage
Many people ignore the possibility of financial complications before marriage and end up having a financial disaster. Here are 15 pieces of advice that can help you have a healthy financial relationship with your partner.
1. Consider Prenups before Marriage
A prenuptial agreement, or prenup, is a contract that lists the property and debts of both the partners who are about to get married. This agreement also states their rights to each other’s belongings.
Here in Atlanta, a prenup attorney can help you out with prenup procedures or queries about prenuptial agreements in Atlanta.
2. Communicate Properly with Your Partner
Communication helps you have mutual understanding and respect, which leads to a healthy relationship. When there is a lack of communication, pressure can build up between partners. At times, this pressure can be frustrating and come out as an outburst of anger or stress.
Try resolving any financial issues by opening up to each other. Try to face the problem together. You can easily fight financial stress if you have mutual support and confidence in each other.
3. Check Up on Each Other’s Financial Knowledge
Before starting a new journey together, you should know each other first. That goes for your partner’s past financial decisions as well, including their credit cards, spending habits, etc. Past mistakes can be troublesome in the future.
4. Know About Your Partner’s Debts
Once you combine your finances after marriage, the debts get combined too. So before proceeding, make sure you know about your partner’s debts. Then resolve issues like whether you want to pay the debt together, how you are going to pay the debt if the debt can cause problems in the credits of the other partner, and so on.
5. Do Not Keep Any Secrets
One must not keep things secret from their partner as it can damage relationships as well as lead to a financial crisis. You should let your partner know about any loans or debts you have. You should also let them know about your spending. If these things come as a surprise to your partner, they can get stressed. Always remember that you are in this together, and you should deal with problems together.
6. Prioritize Things Together
Prioritize your expenses together. Come to a mutual decision when it comes to future investments or savings. You might want to buy a new house while your partner wants to buy a new car. Decide beforehand through discussion and save money for that. You can have a list of things in your priority lists, but both should agree upon that.
7. Learn to Compromise
Compromising sometimes does not harm your pride; rather, it makes a marriage long-lasting. You need to be understanding and humble toward your partner. At times, your partner can be in a dire situation where you might need to compromise on things that you had planned ahead. Be open to compromise when needed. Then again, to set priorities, goals, etc., you might need to compromise.
8. Divide Financial Responsibilities
You should divide responsibilities beforehand. Otherwise, it can become a burden and escalate stress. You should discuss the contribution to the family. You can distribute the financial tasks between partners based on your assets and incomes. If both of you are working, expecting one partner to pay all the bills is not reasonable.
9. Ask for Help if Needed
As you proceed with mutual understanding, you should also keep in mind that when one partner is struggling, the other should help. Moreover, if you are struggling to keep up with your financial responsibilities, do not feel shy or become egoistic about seeking help. Being in a marriage means overcoming obstacles together. So you should ask for help from your partner if needed. In case friends and family members come forward to help you, then accept with gratitude.
10. Set Budgets and Goals
After marriage, you and your partner need to work as a team. The first and foremost financial duty you must follow is setting up budgets and planning your spending for your household. You should think about paying bills, groceries, transportation, and other necessities. You could also set goals to save money for a house, cars, vacations, and so on.
11. Choose Methods to Save Money
You might have combined bank accounts or separate. Which one works best for your marriage should be discussed by both the partners. You can have joint accounts, linked accounts, or separate accounts. Keep in mind that one partner’s negative credits can affect the other. So choose your options carefully. You might want to consult a marriage counselor in your area for further information.
12. Discuss Finances and Taxes
Married couples can pay taxes either jointly or individually. You should sort out your tax payment methods before marriage. Make time to discuss taxes or other financial issues. Rent, bills, taxes, down payments, etc., must be discussed regularly to find the best solutions.
13. Update Beneficiaries
After getting married, you should update the information of beneficiaries for your bank account. Your partner should be the new beneficiary for your account. You can also update if names have changed for you or your partner. In order to ensure that after the death of one partner, the other partner or children gets the assets, it is important to keep the beneficiaries updated.
14. Try to Minimize Pressure
Financial stress can have a huge pressure that ultimately affects your marriage. Both the partners should try to stay calm and deal with the financial problems together. Instead of arguing over what went wrong, try to focus on things that could make them right. You can also seek marriage counseling to relieve stressful concerns after marriage.
15. Think about the Future
You should think about future plans and save or spend accordingly. Mutual decisions should determine the contributions of each partner toward savings. You can also save for your children, their education, etc.
To Conclude
Many instances around us indicate that financial problems after marriage can make or break the marriage. Letting the financial problems get bigger and not helping or supporting each other can end up damaging the relationship.
The advice we have shared is proven to be helpful for many couples. We hope these tips will also save your marriage from a financial disaster.
