Investing for retirement or financial security is tough enough when you are just dealing with your own stuff. However, it can get even more complicated when you are married.
It Doesn’t Have To!
Whether you both take home an income and have investment accounts or there is just a single breadwinner in the house. Both partners should have agreed upon financial goals and an idea where they stand with those goals.
The following 4 actions every couple should take to ensure they are on a common path toward their financial goals.
Step 1 – Knowing Is Half The Battle
Before we make any decisions about our financial future with our significant other we must first understand the current financial state
- Pull out all of your financial statements (both joint and individual) and review them together.
This accomplishes two things:
- One – you both have a full understanding of the finances between the two of you.
- Two – by doing this you are reviewing your current investments and allocations, which leads to….
Step 2 – Q & A
Ask each other what you would like to accomplish with your current investments and the future money that will be added to your investments.
- Figure out what the most important item is to each of you and then see how you can invest and/or adjust your finances to reach those goals.
If they happen to a common goal – such as retiring in X amount of years, then there is your focus. If it’s retirement in X amount of years for you and your spouse prefers to work a little longer so you can buy a vacation home - then work out a plan for both that is agreeable for each of you.
I know this can sometimes be difficult when priorities are not exactly the same, which is when the # 3 step comes in handy.
Step 3 – Seek Counsel (not that kind of counsel!) a Financial Advisor
I’m very much a proponent for self managing your finances if you can. I mean why spend money on fees if you do not have too?
However – in this instance it is imperative that you use a Financial Advisor. When you and your spouse cannot find common ground on how to invest and spend that works toward both your financial goals then a qualified financial advisor is your savior.
Not only will they give you additional information on where and how to invest, they also act as a third party that will help make decisions the two of you cannot find an easy or agreeable answer on.
Step 4 – Stay In Tune and In Sync
After going through this process with our significant other we need to maintain it by occasionally checking up on our financial state and adjusting as needed. Otherwise, things can become a hot mess and you will be doing the whole process again in a year and a half!
- Once a quarter do a quick review of your financial statement – most times you will not need to do anything, but there will be times that adjustments or tweaks need to be made simple because….
Life Happens!
Speaking of stuff happening – wish not to be morbid, but if you are married with young children be sure to check your insurance coverage when doing this initial review of finances. If something unfortunately happened, you want to ensure your significant other has sufficient financial resources to weather it along with knowledge of who and where to contact to process that claim.
With that said….
Live Long and Steemit!
Regards,
Mitchell J