Skip to main content

Everything Newlyweds Should Know about Coupling Finances



Turns out that “coupling” doesn’t just mean “pairing” in the traditional sense, but is also a catchphrase when it comes to finances. As we head into wedding season, it’s especially relevant. Because as much as you may think no two people have ever been more in love than you are, the truth is that it could be less than smooth sailing ahead if you’re not on the same page when it comes to financial matters.

“Couples have a very hard time talking about money,” Joan Atwood, a Hofstra University professor of marriage and family therapy, bemoaned on an NPR “Money Coach” segment on the issue. “I would say it’s the last taboo.”

Ready to break the cycle? Read on.

• Set common goals. You have probably discussed this in a dreamy sort of way while dating, but turning those reveries into reality requires habitually saving to pay for them to finance your later retirement years. This is most likely one thing you may not have thought of at a time when the median ages, respectively, for brides and grooms are 29 and 31.

“While people may come into a marriage with their own assets, they need to take some time after the wedding to sit down and start getting organized as a couple,” advises Andrew Peterson, a vice president at Fidelity Investments.

• Be transparent. There’s nothing that says you have to put all your cash into a joint savings account – but at the very least you’d be “less than truthful” by not divulging any outstanding debts – and then figuring out, together, how to pay them down.

• Safely store your information. Quick: What’s your new spouse’s Social Security number? And what other vital information don’t you know if a sudden need arises?

To truly mark your financial coupling, you might consider using an online
service such as FidSafe.com that lets you store, access and share all your new family’s important records and documents anywhere via a web browser or iOS app.

Not only is it free and simple to use with handy checklists, but even before it was officially introduced two years ago by Fidelity, Barron’s magazine gave the service five stars for being what it called “the first cloud-based safe deposit box we’ve seen that’s secure enough to organize everything from financial statements, insurance policies, and real estate records to a will, IRA benefits, and even passwords.”

“With all the other things on their to-do lists, newlyweds typically don’t focus on all the important financial and other documents they need to begin married life on a solid footing,” says Peterson. “This makes things easier for them from the start, as well as through the years as they have even more joint documents to retain – including those related to perhaps buying a house and having children.”

• Investigate this option. Do you both get health insurance through your employer? Congrats. You may have just saved yourselves some money because, if it works out it’s less expensive for one of you to be on the other’s plan rather than pay for both.

Thanks: NewsUSA

Its time to think about Logo Designer, HURRY!!
Labels:
Location: Singapore

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Surprisingly, Older Americans Are Coping Best During the Pandemic

( NewsUSA ) – Older Americans have actually been coping far better than younger ones during the coronavirus pandemic, according to new research.The Edward Jones and Age Wave Study goes where few have ventured before in focusing exclusively on how different generations have held up emotionally and financially in the months since all the lockdowns began. And some of its findings are at least as startling as how quickly even 70-year-olds came to love Zoom."COVID-19’s impact forever changed the reality of many Americans, yet we’ve observed a resilience among U.S. retirees in contrast to younger generations," said Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., the founder and CEO of Age Wave, a leading research think tank on aging, retirement and longevity issues.While acknowledging upfront that the virus itself disproportionally struck aging adults, the five-generational sampling of 9,000 people age 18 and over revealed more than a few surprises. Among them:* While 37 percent of Gen Zers, 27 percent o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Audiobook Service Helps Blind Vets Recover Independence

In December 1967, a young soldier lay in a hospital bed after sustaining severe eye injuries from a land mine in Vietnam. Tom Miller, now executive director of the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) in Washington, D.C., was blind, and his mind raced over all of the things he’d never be able to enjoy again. “I’ve spent the past 44-plus years erasing that list, or finding new things I can do.” Miller says he owes many thanks to the talking-book program of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), part of the Library of Congress. “The program is a godsend,” he says. Veterans—and any U.S. resident or citizen living abroad—are eligible to become NLS readers if they are blind, have low vision or have an illness or disability that prevents them from handling a book or printed material. According to a 2011 report by the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, 16 percent of the wounded soldiers evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan battle zones have suf...
Post a Comment
Read more

Take Time for A Moment That Matters: Tire Safety

Have working batteries in your smoke alarms? Done. Has your oil been freshly changed in your car? Done. Is there a new water filter for your refrigerator? Done. But when it comes to regularly checking your tires? Like most people, there may be some room for improvement. As fall travel and winter weather loom, taking a moment to check your car tires can make a difference in keeping you safe on the road. This year, Cooper Tires is encouraging drivers to mark Labor Day weekend on their calendar (and the first of every month) as a tire check safety moment, to make a habit of checking tires, especially as seasons change. “Just as we regularly take a moment to check our smoke detector batteries when we change our clocks in the fall and spring, we need to designate a moment to check tire safety as well,” says Jessica Egerton, Director of Brand Development at Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. Ensuring the overall condition of your tires is easy and important for your safety on the r...
Post a Comment
Read more