Money and Your Marriage

It’s a truly wonderful feeling to be walking down the aisle towards the man of your dreams, but then what? It’s easy to get caught up on your wedding day itself and to forget what lies beyond the honeymoon, yet it’s after your big day where the forever after begins. It’s important to not only have a plan in place but also to ensure that both of you are on the same page as to what that plan entails. So, grab a cup of coffee and do some talking…

Your Goals

As you launch into a brand-new adventure together, it is important to revisit your goals. As a single person, you would have had certain goals and aspirations. Some of those goals may stay the same but some may need to be tweaked to include your partner. New goals may need to be set as your lives blend together. Discuss your personal goals, and then put new ones in place that you as a couple set out to accomplish together. Go into your discussion realising that the goals you set together need to involve some degree of compromise as well as being realistic and achievable.

Buying a home

Have you discussed what your expectations are regarding the house you would like to call home? If you don’t already own your own home, then perhaps one of your goals could be to set a financial goal towards saving for your first home. Once again: don’t forget to be realistic. If you hope to own a seven bedroomed house with a bowling alley as a couple starting out; you’re probably going to be disappointed. Figuring out your needs, earning capacity and impact of interest rates will help you to realistically put a plan in place to help you achieve your goal of buying a house could be very beneficial.

Careers & work

Your career is often the last thing you think about when you get married but it is one of the most important things for a new couple to consider. Consider the following questions:

1. Do you intend to have children? How soon? How many?
2. How will this impact your career?
3. Do you intend to send your children to private schools?
4. What savings and investments will you have in place to educate your children?

Your Finances

The area that causes more stress than anything in a marriage is money! Have you discussed your financial dreams and goals? What are your expectations going into your marriage regarding how you will run the home finances; who will be responsible for paying the monthly accounts; what will happen when children come along; how will you manage your money – especially if one of the partners is bringing debt into the marriage or is not able to earn an income for some reason. 

Having a spending plan and knowing your financial goals can set you up for a much happier future together. It’s something that’s so essential but not taught at school. You may already feel stressed about how much the wedding has cost, or overwhelm at the responsibility of running a home without having any idea on spending, saving or investing.

Learning from those who have been there and done that and who have found some success secrets could be the most valuable thing to add to your marriage. It’s the gift that will last a lifetime. You could read some books but the easiest most effective way would be to attend a finance course/workshop on how to be wise with your hard-earned cash. You will learn more in a day than you could in months of trying to figure it our on your own. Committing to a day or two to learn together would be a great investment of your time and may go a long way to helping you create a plan to achieve your dreams and live a more fulfilled, less stressful life together.

If you want to attend a life-changing course to set yourselves up for a more peaceful and successful marriage, click below for more info on our workshops. We also run customised retreat weekends for up to 3 couples if you are looking for someone to take you step by step through setting your budget, buying a home, saving and investing. Click below or contact us directly.

Making memories

Make lasting memories together, whether it is the holiday of a lifetime to an exotic getaway destination or a candlelit dinner in the garden, make plans with each other. If you fail to plan time to make memories, you may discover that years have passed, your career has demanded loads of time or your children have arrived and the time to make memories as a couple has been lost forever. Don’t have regrets – just do it.