Archive for the ‘Personal Finance’ Category:
Considering Finances Before Getting Married
You’ve decided to get married and spend your life with one person. Congratulations! How much have you two discussed your respective finances? Nearly 90% of all divorces are caused by financial problems. Since you don’t want to be in that group, before the wedding is the time to discuss these questions.
Who will handle the money? Obviously both of you have an input in financial decisions, but who will be the one making sure the bills got paid? A good place to start is who is better with money. If one of you is a complete mess with staying organize, then the other might be better suited to keeping track of things on paper.
Will both of you work and who will handle what household expenses if you do? Surprisingly having two working people in a marriage can cause strain. Decide now if you will both put your money together or if it will be divided up into your share and their share. It’s also worth discussing how much money each of you would like as personal spending cash. Amounts that are just automatically assumed into the monthly budget and don’t have to be accounted for. Set a limit for how big an expense is too big to be considered by just one party. The last thing you want is to have a big fight because one person thinks a $500 television should have been a joint decision and the other didn’t.
Determine how much debt you both have individually. Remember, once you’re married all of it is your debt together. It will jointly affect your credit and therefore important decisions like buying a home or a car. Also discuss if you both feel budgeting is important. Many married couples don’t have a budget; they both just know how much is there and how much of that is unaccounted for. Other couples get into big trouble if every cent isn’t marked on the budget.
Finally, determine together what your long-term financial goals are and how you both feel about money. Does one of you want to save more than the other? Some people would prefer to do without the nicer things in life to have more savings, others would consider this unthinkable. Discuss these things before your wedding day and make sure your finances will mesh as well as the rest of your lives.
Subscribe to the comments for this postKnowing Your on Track to Financial Freedom
Financial freedom is something we all dream about. You may not have dreamed about being debt free when you were six, you probably wanted to be a fireman, but as an adult this becomes a major goal for most. No one likes not being in complete control of their finances. So you’ve been working hard, paying back debts, saving for a rainy day. This is great news, but how do you know your on the road to being financial free? There are a few indicators that you are doing things right and will succeed in no time at all.
1. You are taking in more money than you’re spending. This needs to be on a regular basis. If every month you can see that you have some extra cash lying around, this is a good sign. Not only will it help you in case of an emergency, it’s nice to have the security of knowing you can handle any tiny mishaps that may come up. It also gives you the extra funds to finish paying back those last few debts.
2. You can and are honoring all your financial commitments. Part of this is having no more debt. If you are paying off your credit cards on a monthly basis, your car if paid off, and your making your mortgage payment on time these are also great signs. You will be financially free before you can blink.
3. You approach financial situations as a skeptic. There is no doubt that at one point or another you will come across a scam. A smart investor approaches these things with caution. It is their job to prove to you why you should believe what they’re selling you. It’s their job to prove to you why this investment isn’t a waste of your time. It’s your job to be wary. Just because a financial advisor has that spiffy certification, doesn’t mean he’ll always give you sound advice. Do your research and know what you’re putting your money into.