Happily Financially Ever After

You have planned every detail of your wedding but have you and your future spouse stopped to plan how you will manage your finances once you are married? Money is the number one issue most couples fight about, we want to help you get started on the right foot.

Share Everything

Create joint accounts and merge all finances including checking, investment accounts and debt. This approach works well for couples that have similar spending and saving styles and also similar income and debt when entering the marriage.

Split Everything

Each spouse keeps a separate account and split bills based on the ability to pay or equally. This method works best for couples that have vastly different financial styles.

A Little For You, A Little For Me

Sharing is wonderful, but it's nice to keep a little something for yourself. With this method each spouse deposits into a joint account to cover shared bills either evenly or by ability to pay. The remaining funds go into a separate account for each spouse. This method is a good compromise and allows each spouse to have control over finances.

Which way is best?

Whatever you decide, just know if it isn’t working, change it.  Don’t feel you are stuck with joint accounts because that’s what you decided upon early on.  Remember, marriage has its ups and down and it’s all about open communication, compromise and making adjustments together along the way. As you start your marriage, you may want to have it all right now, the dream house, nice car, etc., but don’t lose sight of your love for each other and live the lifestyle of your actual income and not your desired income.
 

Written by:

Ericka Snider, Marketing Director at State Street Bank