Getting Married? Top 6 Tips for Merging Your Finances

Posted on April 04, 2023

Covering wedding and honeymoon expenses can easily crowd out all other thoughts of your soon-to-be-joint finances. It’s worth carving out a little time to start planning how you can get the most bang for your mutual buck in the coming months and years.

1. Compare notes

It’s a good idea for each person to make a complete list of all their current accounts and collect the corresponding financial statements. Then bring all the information together to get an idea of your combined:

Income
Assets, savings, and investments, including emergency funds
Everyday bills
Total debt, including credit cards and student loans

Look at accounts where you have a beneficiary and decide where you want to designate each other.

2. Get rid of redundancy

Are you both paying for the same things unnecessarily? Could you get a better deal on services if you went in together? Assess these spending areas:

Streaming subscription services
Cell phone services
Health, auto, and life insurance

3. Establish money management routines

It’s usually easier and more efficient if one person pays the bills, but the other person should always be informed. Consider setting a quick weekly meeting to make sure you’re staying on the same page. Many couples benefit from spending ground rules like:

Neither person can spend over a certain amount on a single purchase without discussing it with the other person first
Neither person can lend money to friends and family above a certain amount

4. Talk with a tax advisor

You can be married and still file your taxes as individual singles, or you can file jointly. A tax advisor can help you determine which is more advantageous in your situation.

5. Start crafting a budget you can both get behind

People have different financial personalities, from super-savers to starry-eyed spenders. Your personality doesn’t have to be the same as your spouse’s. The important thing is to keep the lines of communication open and have a mechanism for crunching the numbers.

The United budget calculator makes it easy to break down income, essentials, and more.

6. Align on your long-term financial goals

As a new couple starting a new life, what are you hoping to accomplish together down the road? Priorities change over time, but it’s good to start the conversation and revisit regularly. Common goals include:

Buying a home
Making home improvements
Retiring comfortably

United is here to help with a full range of financial solutions from mortgages to home equity loans to personal savings accounts. Just schedule an appointment online.