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Money Management
HOW TO BE A MONEY-SMART COUPLE
February 14, 2000
Whether you're celebrating your first Valentine's Day or your
fiftieth, it's never too early or too late to plan for your financial future. Personal financial planning is a
key ingredient to achieving your goals and plays an important role in achieving financial harmony in your marriage,
reports the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA). Here are ten tips to get you started.
1. TALK ABOUT MONEY OPENLY.
Marriage is more than an emotional partnership,
it's a financial one as well. Be open and honest in sharing your thoughts about saving and spending, investing
and borrowing. Wealth building in a marriage is best accomplished when it's a team effort, but since attitudes
about money are acquired over a lifetime, be willing to make some allowances for each other's money habits.
2. APPOINT A MONEY HANDLER.
If you're just starting out, you need to decide
who will handle money management tasks like balancing the checkbook, paying the bills, and monitoring investments.
If you've been married for a while and one of you has been in charge of family finances for many years, perhaps
it's time to make a switch. Regardless of which one of you handles the day-to-day money management, get together
frequently to review your budget, investment portfolio, and tax situation, and to discuss major purchases and important
financial decisions.
3. IDENTIFY FINANCIAL GOALS.
Saving money is much easier when you have specific
goals in mind. Take the time to talk regularly about what is important to you both. By setting short- and long-term
financial goals and reasonable time frames for each, you can establish priorities and define the type of lifestyle
you want to live - both now and in the future. Try to anticipate how changes in your life, such as the birth of
a child, disability of a family member, or the need to care for an elderly parent, may affect your financial future.
If you have been married a while and already have financial goals in place, take the time to update your goals
and assess your progress.
4. PAY YOURSELF FIRST.
The key to saving is discipline. Perhaps the
best strategy for achieving your financial goals is to automate your savings plan. Have $100 (or whatever sum you're
comfortable with) taken out of your paycheck or checking account each month and put into a money market or mutual
fund. This pay-yourself-first strategy works infinitely better than settling for saving whatever, if anything,
is left over at the end of the month.
5. REDUCE DEBT.
Whether you've each brought your share of debt
into the marriage or have built up a large credit card balance together, it's time to come up with a plan for reducing
debt. If you find you can pay only the minimum due on your credit card bills, try trimming a couple of items in
your monthly budget - like dinners out and movies - and use the savings to pay down debt. You also might consider
consolidating your credit card balances onto the card with the lowest interest rate or taking out a home equity
loan to pay off your credit card debt. For many couples, putting the roof over their heads at risk with a home
equity loan is a step they take only as a last resort - squeezing savings out of your budget or taking out a personal
loan are safer alternatives.
6. UPDATE YOUR INSURANCE.
Couples - young and old - should review life,
disability, medical, and property insurance needs at regular intervals. Two-income couples should compare the health
care coverage their employers provide and decide whether it makes sense to maintain individual coverage or switch
- as employee and dependent - to the plan with better benefits. If you were single (or married to someone else)
when you bought your life insurance policy, you may need to update the policy's beneficiary designation to reflect
your new status. And remember to check the beneficiary designations on your retirement and pension plans and update
them as necessary - you might still be carrying your ex, or your deceased Great-Aunt Tillie, as your beneficiary.
7. INVEST FOR THE FUTURE.
Remember that it's never too soon or too late
to save for retirement. One of the best strategies is to put the maximum amount possible into your employer-sponsored
retirement plan. Most young newlyweds should consider investing a substantial proportion of their portfolios in
stocks, which tend to offer higher yields than bonds or cash over the long term.
8. IMPROVE YOUR FINANCIAL LITERACY.
Read the money and business sections of your
newspaper, subscribe to a personal finance magazine, or take a personal finance course at your local high school
or community college. You also can find a wealth of financial educational material and advice on the Internet.
9. DRAFT OR REVISE YOUR WILL.
When you die without a will, the state determines
who gets your assets. If you and your spouse don't have wills, have them drawn up. If your wills have been in place
for a while, review them to determine whether they should be updated to reflect any changes in your life status.
10. MAKE TAX PLANNING A YEAR-ROUND STRATEGY.
Keep taxes in mind throughout the year as you
plan your overall financial strategy. Take advantage of every opportunity - from income shifting to using a tax-deferred
retirement plan, from bunching deductions to offsetting capital gains - to save valuable tax dollars. Remember,
every dollar you cut from your taxes is another dollar you can put toward achieving your financial goals.
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Money Management is a weekly column on personal
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