Are You Financially Ready to Tie the Knot?

Getting married is exciting for everyone involved. However, it’s important to remember that marriage is about more than just romance. It’s also about combining finances and being, at least in part, financially responsible for another person.                        

For that reason, you shouldn’t get married until you are financially ready. What does that mean, exactly? Well while being “financially ready” is different for everyone, there are at least a few things all people should aim for before they say “I Do.”

Know How Each of You Spend

Before committing to marriage, make sure you have a good idea of how you spend and use money. You should also know the same thing about your spouse.

For example, do you like to save any extra cash you have for those “just in case” moments in life? Or, are you someone who saves for a big purchase and then starts all over again. Or, maybe you don’t save at all. You just spend your money as you get it.

Whatever the case, it’s important to know how you use money. Know the same thing about your spouse-to-be so that you can predict any potential problems or disagreements over money and come up with ways to combat them.

If you are aware of where you both “fall short” when it comes to money, you can meet any problems head-on and keep them from negatively affecting your marriage.

Create a Debt Reduction Plan

In addition to talking about spending and saving habits, also talk with your intended about the debt-related responsibilities each of you has.

For example, know how much credit card debt each person will bring into the marriage, if there’s any student loan debt, and that kind of thing.

Once you have determined how much debt will exist between you, come up with a plan for reducing that debt. You can do this on your own with some research, or, even better yet, you can hire a financial advisor to assist you.

Either way, if you can start your marriage off with a clear strategy for paying off debt, you’ll be starting on the right foot.

As you can see, there’s a lot to know about each other, moneywise, before jumping into marriage, as well as plenty to plan for. However, the most important thing is that both of you are open and honest with each other and continue to be so throughout your marriage. This can save you both a lot of grief and a lot of worry over money.