Financial Planning for New Couples: Starting Off Your Marriage in DFW

Summer wedding season is right around the corner and all across Texas couples are finalizing preparations for their wedding day. Weddings do require a lot of planning, but the wedding is the first day of a completely new lifetime for a couple. That future requires careful planning as well. Most couples talk about things like having children and where they will live, but too many couples don’t take the time for a structured conversation about their finances as a couple.

In order to make sure that your financial future as husband and wife starts successfully, Kendall Financial offers these suggestions as topics for discussion and action.

•    Sit down and have an in-depth talk about money and your mindsets toward it. How does each of you think of money? The ideas of “me” and “mine” need to shift to “us” and “ours. Are you spenders or savers? Is having a lot of money a high priority for you? Talk honestly and specifically. Discuss how you will manage your household expenses. One very effective way to do this is to open a joint household account. Determine how much your monthly expenses are for housing, groceries, insurances and utilities. These expenses are joint expenses that are incurred by both of you and should be paid by both of you. Set up regular deposits to the joint household account so that your monthly expenses are always covered.

•    Next, you should open two types of savings accounts. First, open an emergency savings account. This account should hold two to three months’ income so your family can handle the initial onslaught of an unforeseen emergency. The second account is a long-term savings account where you save toward a common goal like buying a home or for large purchases like furniture or appliances. This account could also be used to save for luxury items like a spa bathroom or a vacation for the two of you. Even the smallest investments now can help you with large purchases and stability down the road for you and your family.

•    Finally, you should each contribute to your individual retirement accounts. If your employer matches your contribution, fund the account to the maximum allowed if possible. This way you gain the maximum benefit from their contribution.

•    Consider the property titles of all property that either of you own individually. You may want to add your spouse to the title, to avoid any disinheritance should one of you should pass away unexpectedly.

•    Check into the beneficiaries on your IRAs, insurances and pension plans. Remember to check all of your insurances including health, property, auto and life to make sure your spouse is your beneficiary. You should also each have a will and a durable power of attorney drawn up that names your new spouse as beneficiary and gives them the ability to make decisions should you become disabled.

You’re never too young to think about the future. So, as you plan your new life together, be sure and contact Kendall Financial at www.kendallfinancial.net today or call 972-874-8757. Let Kendall Financial help you start your marriage with a secure foundation for your future.