Getting married is a heady thing. There are people to invite, parties to attend, a honeymoon to plan…but somewhere in there should be a frank discussion regarding each other’s financial status. One of the worst things you can do is merge your finances together, only to find that you have two different ways of looking at money. Maybe one of you is a spender, one a saver. Maybe one of you is deep in debt, while the other has a substantial savings. These are things you are going to need to look at.
Get together all of your finances so you can see how much you each earn, as well as owe, so you have a financial picture of your future life together. Then, figure out how to pay off the debt or to increase the savings, depending on your portfolio. Talk about insurance, retirement, all of your plans for the future – and how you can make these things happen.
Think about merging your accounts together. If one of you has great credit and the other doesn’t, you may want to consider waiting until you have paid off the other one’s debt and increased their credit score, before you drop your own. Then get set to get married, but get married smart. Plan the wedding you have always wanted, but be sure to stay within a budget – same goes for the honeymoon. Worst thing you can do is go and spend a lot of money you don’t have for one day or one trip. Because when all is said and done, you will have to come back to pay for it. ■
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