Financial Care for Life > Getting Married

Getting Married

Marriage and Money: What You Need To Know and Do for Financial Bliss

Financial Planning and Budgeting
Addressing Your Estate Planning
Evaluating Your Life Insurance Needs

Discussing money matters and financial decisions can often be difficult, especially for engaged and newlywed couples with contrasting perspectives about saving and spending. It’s important to get your future off to a good start and that begins with investing time to discuss finances and aligning your financial goals. Here are a few pieces of advice to start your marriage out on the right foot.

Tools that may help you:

Financial Planning and Budgeting

Communication is key to any relationship. It’s also important when it comes to your financial past. Discuss both of your financial situations and gain a comprehensive understanding of your collective finances. This includes any bankruptcies, home foreclosures or any other negative financial event as well as credit reporting. Create a combined balance sheet that encompasses your balances of assets and liabilities, including the titling of accounts and present beneficiaries. Lastly, discuss your short-term, intermediate-term and long-term goals and determine a preliminary budget that prepares for those goals. Whether it’s buying a home, starting a family, changing jobs or enjoying some travel, your budget will be a catalyst for a robust discussion and keep you accountable for your upcoming choices and how you prioritize your expenditures.

Addressing Your Estate Planning

Estate planning isn’t only reserved for the wealthy and older generations. It’s critical your estate planning and documents are in order after you get married. These include:

Wills
A Power of Attorney
Healthcare Power of Attorney
Trusts

Once in order, it’s recommended you revisit each every three to five years to ensure they remain consistent with your wishes as your life evolves.

Evaluating Your Life Insurance Needs

While death may be an uncomfortable thought and not on your mind, it’s important you think ahead in the case of your unfortunate passing. You want to ensure your surviving spouse is taken care of without the burden of sudden expenses. You also want to consider your children (and whether your future includes a family) and their education costs. Your financial planning and budgeting will help in identifying your priorities and goals, which in turn, will determine your insurance needs.

Marriage brings with it many responsibilities and challenges. The KIG team is here to help ensure your financial planning aligns with your dreams and aspirations, as well as your spouse’s.

The information presented here is not specific to any individual's personal circumstances.
To the extent that this material concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law. Each taxpayer should seek independent advice from a tax professional based on his or her individual circumstances.
These materials are provided for general information and educational purposes based upon publicly available information from sources believed to be reliable — we cannot assure the accuracy or completeness of these materials. The information in these materials may change at any time and without notice.