Getting married as a couple means you have to merge your lives together, including your personal finance. Talking about your finances and planning to improve your income is obviously not the romantic conversation you wish to have as a newly married couple, but it’s essential. More importantly, there are certain financial rules, principles, and strategies you must get acquainted with to succeed financially.
Hence, this post has compiled a list of the best financial advice for newlyweds. These are things you probably haven’t heard before marriage, and if you do not learn them now, you will struggle financially as a married couple.
What Is The Best Financial Advice For A Newly Married Couple?
The best financial advice a newly married couple can heed to is, live a frugal lifestyle. This is because newlyweds have to secure their income and avoid spending recklessly due to the excitement of a new marriage. That’s why you and your spouse need to be frugal, applying different tactics to save money and live within your means.
What Financial Goals Should New Couples Have?
Newlyweds are expected to have financial goals concerning their children’s college fund (even if they are not yet born), health insurance, retirement, and even housing. These are essential things that every family needs to thrive and enjoy a fulfilled life.
How To Improve Your Personal Finance As A Couple
Aside from heeding to different financial advice for newlyweds, you should be deliberate about improving your personal finance as a couple.
Since you might be oblivious to many financial rules and tactics, you should get knowledge from reliable sources. Start listening to professional financial advisors who can teach you the best methods for stabilizing your finances and coping during a financial crisis.
For example, you can listen to personal finance podcasts online that teach couples how to avoid debt, plan for retirement, and even make more money together as husband and wife.
Listening to these podcasts at least once a week will keep you informed and help you make the right financial decisions. If you need to know which podcast to start with, here’s a post that sheds light on the 10 best person finance podcasts you can start listening to as soon as possible.
On the other hand, if you are an ardent reader, you can read some of the best books on personal finance written by well-respected financial advisors and economic experts. These books will not only improve your mindset but also show you practical steps to move your finances to the next level.
10 Important Financial Advice For Newlyweds
It’s always easier to make the right decisions when you are working based on a valid piece of advice. Here are 10 helpful financial advice for newly married couples:
1. Discuss Your Family’s Financial History
This is one newlywed financial advice you should take seriously. It is expected that every family handles finances differently. Some families can make the right choices and succeed financially, while some fail pathetically to even have a stable income stream. This is why you must discuss your family’s financial history as soon as you get married.
By having this conversation, you can quickly identify some of the biggest money mistakes your parents made that resulted in some major financial challenges. Of course, you would do everything possible to avoid making the same mistakes.
Moreover, another reason this is one of the best financial advice for newlyweds is that it helps the couple to understand each other’s money mindset. Usually, our beliefs about money and how we handle our personal finances are determined by how we were raised. If you do not know your partner’s family financial history, you may never understand how they handle money.
2. Have A Joint Checking Account
If we are being honest, marriage is supposed to connect a couple in every aspect, including finances. Having a joint bank account with your spouse is a wise idea even though some folks still don’t recommend it. If you decide to have separate bank accounts, you will have to budget your money and pay bills respectively. There would be no synergy or cooperation when it comes to improving your personal finances.
But when you have a shared bank account and contribute money, it is easier to plan for big financial goals such as getting a new car or a home. It also makes paying bills less stressful. As a married couple, you can save money faster and pay off debts when you work together with a joint account.
The only downside to sharing an account with your spouse is that one of you might be a spendthrift, using the savings without caution. This is why it’s important to understand each other and agree on how your finances would be spent.
3. Budget Together
Budgeting your money together is one of the best financial tips for newly married couple. It doesn’t make sense to create individual budgets when you live in the same house as husband and wife. You should set up a monthly household budget to organize your spending and help you save money.
Before building a budget with your spouse, you must first determine your shared monthly income. This is how you know how much money you have at your disposal to cover your expenses.
The next step is to make a list of all your essential expenses. Things such as monthly bills, mortgage payments, insurance, entertainment, loans, or credit card debt should be budgeted for.
Moreover, building a budget can be much easier when using a mobile budgeting app. The app does all the work, helping you to automate certain payments and reminding you not to overspend. If you need clarification about which app to use, check out this article that examines the best budgeting apps for couples to manage money together.
4. Build An Emergency Fund
Being prepared for emergencies is a very good financial advice for newly wedded couples. You must build an emergency fund if you want to cover unexpected expenses without taking loans or using credit cards. Lock your savings until you have enough money to fund your expenses for at least 3 months.
In a situation where you lose your job or fall critically ill, your emergency fund could be the only backup plan you need.
As a married couple, be intentional about this. Consistently contribute a certain amount of money weekly or monthly. Within a few years of saving, you would amass a significant sum of money to protect you from emergency expenses.
5. Have Discussions About Your Personal Finance
Talking about your finances is another key piece of financial advice for newlyweds. The moment you experience any financial setback in your marriage, don’t sweep it under the carpet. Ensure you talk about it. Having a proper discussion about it could lead to a solution.
On the other hand, you don’t always have to talk about your personal finance only when you experience problems. Even when everything is going on smoothly, take some time to review your finances.
You can do this monthly, especially when you receive your salary. Talk about how the previous budget went. Talk about your spending habits to see if you made any dumb purchases the previous month. Doing this regularly would undoubtedly improve your finances.
6. Talk About Your Debt
This is one of the most beneficial financial tips for newlyweds. Before your marriage, you had your own life and managed your money as it pleased you. Chances are that you have some debt you are yet to pay off when you got married. For the sake of your marriage and future, don’t ever hide this information.
When talking about money, remember to discuss your outstanding debts (that is if you have any). That’s the only way you can work together as a couple to repay what you owe.
Moreover, if your spouse is the one in debt, and not you, still consider it your responsibility to pay off the debt. Ensure you support your partner in paying back any loan or credit card debt that may affect your finances in the future.
7. Don’t Lie About Your Spending Habits
We all have our flaws when it comes to spending money. Some people are known for making impulse purchases, while some folks take on expenses that are above their net income. Whichever bad spending habit you are guilty of, being honest about it with your spouse is important.
To avoid mistrust in your marriage, your partner is supposed to understand how you spend money. This is a vital thing to consider when you share the same bank account with your spouse.
Before making any big purchase, even if you are paying for it, always consult your partner. This is one financial advice for newlyweds that can help you prevent conflicts between married partners.
8. Plan For Retirement
One of the best financial advice for newlyweds is to plan their retirement together. Whether you believe it or not, retirement is an important goal for married couples.
When you retire, you can have enough time to enjoy each other’s company and grow old together. This is why you must collectively work toward retiring successfully. The first step to planning for retirement is creating a retirement savings account, such as IRAs.
Moreover, you can seek help from a financial advisor to invest and create an estate plan. This can be a part of your retirement strategy. It’s important to diversify your investments in order to build strong retirement accounts. Remember, you can’t do this alone. You must work together with your spouse throughout the whole process.
9. Create The Right Financial Goals
Setting financial goals as a married couple is one of the best financial advice for newlyweds. You should set relevant goals to help you achieve your major visions in life. When setting a financial goal, make sure you are specific about what you want.
For example, you shouldn’t think of getting a new home; instead, you should be aware of the kind of house you want, how much it costs, and how long it will take you as a couple to save for it.
More importantly, make sure your financial goals are feasible. Of course, it’s important to dream big and aspire to achieve great things. Nevertheless, you should set a financial goal you are capable of achieving.
For example, if you earn $8000 every month (after taxes), you can save $3000 monthly for 15 months to buy a $45,000 car. Your financial goals, whether long-term or mid-term, can only be achievable if they are within your capability.
10. Don’t Spend Too Much On Date Nights
Trying as much as possible not to overspend while having fun is a piece of important financial advice for newlywed couple. The first year of marriage can be exciting. Occasionally, you might go on dates or find some fun and romantic things to do. But as much as you want to kindle your love for each other, ensure you aren’t overspending and breaking your budget.
If you plan to go on date nights, don’t exhaust your income in an exquisite restaurant. In fact, it might interest you to know that you don’t always have to visit a restaurant on date nights. You can have a fantastic date night at home and still enjoy a special moment with your spouse. You can cook a meal together, trying a new recipe for the first time. This would be fun and won’t cost you a ton of money.
Final Notes: Important Financial Advice For Newlyweds
Applying these pieces of financial advice for newlyweds to your own marriage would make a difference. These tips can help you build a better income, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and live happier lives together as legally-married partners.
Always remember that communication should be the bedrock of financial success in your marriage. Before making any decision or implementing any financial advice for newlyweds, always consult your partner. Make sure you communicate effectively about it. This would breed oneness and help you avoid future disagreements.
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I’m not a newlywed, but these are still great tips! My husband and I re-evaluated our finances and budget methods last year and made some important changes. We now have more financial freedom than ever, and more money to spend on wants, like getting our floors resurfaced! So glad people like you are here to spread important financial advice to those who need it.