Check Off These 3 Financial Responsibilities Before Marriage

Picked out the ring? Settled on a venue? Finding the perfect honeymoon destination? While you’re planning out the rest of your life together, it’s also important to line up and share your financials with your significant other. It’s not as enjoyable as sampling cake or writing out vows, but it is an integral part of any marriage and is part of that lasting commitment to one another. So sit down, pull up a chair, and spend some time with the one you love talking and pouring over bank statements and insurance forms now to avoid financial pain later when the honeymoon is over.

1. Talk About Your Financial Future

It’s time to put all your financial cards on the table. While this includes sharing financial information with each other such as checking and savings, investment accounts, and reoccurring expenses such as student debt or insurance, it’s also about you. Sharing and comparing your spending habits, financial plans and dreams, and how much you make now avoids confusion later. Do you want children? A house? These are the questions to answer now and plan for. This also makes it easier to set up shared accounts and figure how much goes in and who pays for what. Transparency now helps avoid arguments later.

2. Build an Emergency Fund

Never hope for the best without planning for the worst. A combined income is a powerful tool for saving money: use it to create an emergency fund. Saving six months’ worth of combined income in a savings or money market account allows you to plan for the unexpected. Another tool in your arsenal is learning more about disability insurance: both the options provided by your employer, as well as taking out a personal policy. If you’re in a situation where a loss of pay would severely hurt your finances, it’s worth looking at disability insurance more in depth.

3. Protect Your Dependents

A large part of marriage is interdependence. A family, a house: there are many expenses neither of you could do alone that you can do together. Getting a life insurance policy, especially when you are young, provides coverage for your dependents to help pay the mortgage and costs of life. Hand-in-hand with life insurance is getting a will in place, not only for estate management but also to make sure your wishes are known regarding artificial life support and power of attorney.

While talk of financial responsibilities before marriage isn’t romantic, it’s a critical part in this next step of your life together. Learning what makes each other tick financially and planning out your life’s expenses is a key part of any marriage. Want to learn more about the role insurance plays? Contact the insurance specialists at H&K to learn more about your options when it comes to ensuring peace of mind for your future, including additional insurances for the future such as homeowner’s insurance. And from all of us at H&K: congratulations on your engagement!