Marriage is much more than a romantic agreement. Gone are the days when the husband was the sole breadwinner, controlled all the finances, and made all the big decisions while the wife was a homemaker. Today, both partners are equally responsible and contributing to all important decisions. This at times can lead to differences of opinion leading to conflicts. When you were single, you would have your own spending habits, however, post marriage your spending habits had to be aligned with that of your partner which may cause disagreements, arguments and may lead to stress. Financial distress plays a major role in marital harmony. Financial distress plays a major role in marital harmony. As per office for national statistics, around 62% of people named money worries as a threat to their relationship

When it comes to money, it doesn’t mean that every happy family has exactly the same amount or spends it the same way; it means every happy family has a way of dealing with money that works for them. Marriage is a balancing act between love and money along with a roller coaster ride of emotions. Financial intimacy starts with better communication. In this article, we will share top 7 tips to manage your money which can make financial intimacy more fun:

• Create a Budget: List down both of your Income and expenses separately in a ledger. Categorize your expenses into the Basic household and discretionary expenses for a couple of months. Once you and your spouse get a clear picture on your spending pattern, set a realistic savings target and manage expenses thereafter efficiently as a team. The thumb rule here is to save first and then manage your expenses efficiently within the budget available
• List down your assets and liabilities: Note down all your financial asset details such as bank account details, FD, RD, MF, PPF, EPF, NPS, Insurance policies etc. Maintain all the documents together in a folder in categories which can be easily accessed by both of you at any given point in time
• Create common expense Accounts: By creating a common expense joint account, you will need your spouse approval for every withdrawal and will have to gain more control with your spending habit
• Update your nominee details: It is extremely important to keep nominee details updated to each of your assets.
• Create Emergency Corpus: Always maintain 3 to 6 months of household expenses as emergency corpus available at all times in your bank account to take care of any unforeseen emergency or unplanned expenses
• Discuss your roles and responsibilities in managing money: For eg : One could take in charge of making payments, tracking expenses while the other partner could take ownership of managing investments
• Create a Will: This may usually fall low on the priority list of a newlywed. However, if there are assets, then it is essential that a Will is drafted to ensure a seamless transition of your assets.

Once these are in place, your next step would be to discuss and list down both of your aspirations and dreams. It may be planning a vacation, buying a vehicle purchase of a dream house or planning for your child’s education, or plan to start your own venture etc. Setting goals establishes a common objective that both become committed to pursuing. Get a “Financial Plan “done with the help of a financial advisor.

A comprehensive financial plan will help you look at the big picture while your financial advisor can guide you through the course of visualizing various situations and the trade-offs to realize the dreams closest to your heart. Few important takeaways from a financial planning exercise are: Are you and your spouse adequately Insured?

1. Savings target and various options and scenarios for meeting goals
2. Maintaining an asset allocation based on yours and your spouse’s risk tolerance level
3. Action plan to achieve your goals
4. Investment plan
5. Planning your taxes

A Financial Planning exercise is not a one-time exercise. Continuous reviews will help you see where you stand and how close you are in achieving your goals.

Everybody has a different approach to handling his or her money. It’s important to be on the same page, be open with each other, and have an action plan. With a sound understanding of money matters, you spend less time arguing and more time living a happy blissful life together.