How to Master Money Management as a Married Couple

The first year of marriage can be a traumatic experience, as financial decisions are decided as a partnership and not as individuals. Consolidating your debt and salaries as one can be a tricky situation. Some couples keep their finances separate due to discrepancies in their salaries. A strain could develop in the relationship if one person is carrying the financial load in the marriage. It is very clear to organize your money management early in the marriage. Set up boundaries by following the below suggestions.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Choose the account manager. The responsibilities of marriage should be split equally between both partners. But one of you is probably inherently suited for money management, so let that person take the lead.

2. Recognize that being the account manager does not equal being the boss. Resist becoming drunk on imaginative power. Remember, you are a part of a team.

3. Communicate with your spouse on important financial information. As the designated money manager, you must have a better grasp of your financial reality. It is important to give enough information to your spouse so they have a meaningful say in important financial decisions.

4. Stick to the mutual agreement system. Do not make the account manager's job difficult. If the system requires you complete a task, then complete the task.

5. Tweak the system until it works for both of you. The system must evolve to fit the needs of both partners.

[mjf1182]

on 5/21/2009 I think coming together with your new spouse and having this all important �finance chat� is a crucial step for every new couple.I work with State Farm, and we often recommend that our customers add insurance considerations into their �things to think about� list of to-do�s when getting ready to say �I do� - in addition to the 8,357 other things that need to be done.As you can imagine, there are a lot of different insurance buckets to be evaluated and acted upon to make sure guys and gals get the right coverage together before they tie the knot (and in some cases, even save money by doing so). I think one of the best ways to get started with all this is to meet with an agent in-person to discuss both of the spouses current coverage, needs, etc and make a plan for what they�ll need in the future.Another thing to think about, which may help new couples starting out in building a financ...