Talking Money With Your Honey
Are you good at talking about money with your honey? We all want our love story to read “and they lived happily ever after.” Having financial harmony is critical to this. So here are some suggested ways to talk money with your honey:
1. “Honey, let us examine our financial obligations and income together?”: All individual obligations including loans and child or parental support should be matched against what you individually earn. This will help determine how much you and your partner can reasonably contribute to your joint expenses. Will you split the bill 50/50 or will either of you have a larger portion of the bills? How would you both feel about this?
2. “Babes, should we save or borrow for this?”: It is critical to align on when to save towards a financial goal vs. when to borrow; remembering that the greater the debt of either party, the less he/she can contribute towards joint financial goals. If you secure a JMMB loan with an asset, a great addition is the extremely affordable creditor life insurance so that in the event of death, your partner is not left “holding the bag”; instead your partner can enjoy the asset debt free.
3. “Sugar, do we have enough protection for each other and the children?”: Insurance gives peace of mind as you know your family is protected. If one spouse becomes ill or dies the other partner will have enough money to cover all or most of the associated costs, while managing other financial obligations. Remember, an important aspect of love is protecting each other.
4. “Darling, how do we grow old together and be financially free”: If one partner does not have a pension plan, it is possible that in later years, one retirement plan would need to financially sustain both of you. How much will both of you need to enjoy retirement debt-free? JMMB can help you calculate how much you and your spouse will need in retirement. Additionally, an individual retirement plan can be created with JMMB if your partner does not currently have one because he/she is either self-employed or does not have an employer pension plan.
5. “Sweetie, should we manage our accounts separately or jointly?” For some couples it is natural that their funds will be joined; while others prefer to have separate accounts. Whichever you choose, it is best to have transparency and financial fidelity because whether or not your accounts are joined, individual financial behavior will impact you as a couple. If you want to test the waters, you may want to start with a small joint account and when the trust grows, you may choose to add your partner to other JMMB accounts.
Together you can accomplish your financial dreams and have financial bliss by having a joint Free JMMB Goal Planning Session with a JMMB financial advisor. Set up your appointment today by visiting our website at https://jm.jmmb.com/schedule-appointment
Written by: Michelle Sinclair Doyley, Manager, Client Financial Education, JMMB Group