Marriage is a huge step that brings significant changes to a person’s mental and emotional health. If you are planning to get married, you have to ensure that you are ready to take all the challenges that come along with having a married life. Take note that without proper planning, achieving a happy marriage will be quite impossible.
To avoid this, you need to invest some of your time and energy in preparing yourself for the next chapter of your life.
Common Factors that Lead to Money Issues
Before getting married, you need to ensure that you and your partner build a plan to face future challenges together. One of the best ways to do this is to ensure that you are both financially literate, so you are both capable of handling money issues. Keep in mind that a lot of married couples break up because of money problems. In fact, a study revealed that 36.1% of married couples divorce because of financial problems. The following are some of the most common money problems that married couples face on a regular basis:
- Not having an idea of how to combine finances
- Not knowing how to pay off debts
- Not learning how to save funds for future use
- Continuously supporting extended family members
Smart Investments to Save and Prepare for Marriage
You don’t have to wait until you get married to address existing money issues. It would be best if both of you remain honest about money-handling problems. This way, you can help each other find the right solutions and make sure that you will avoid major money issues after getting married. One of the most recommended solutions for couples is to learn how to make the right investments before marriage. This means you and your partner should make an effort to ensure that you have the means to save money, get out of debt, and build wealth. Here are some of the most suggested investment strategies that you can make to prepare for marriage:
- Save money for marriage and not just for the wedding — Weddings are definitely expensive, so you and your partner should build a budget plan for this event. However, you also need to realize that it’s better to save more money for your marriage than your wedding day. That said, you need to know how to build funds for your marriage.
- Learn how to comfortably talk about money issues —The first step towards handling financial matters is learning how to openly communicate with each other about money. Some people feel awkward and uncomfortable when talking about money issues. However, as a soon-to-be-wed couple, you need to start discussing money matters. Get to know about how you both manage your income. This way, you can build financial goals that will work for both of you.
- Open new bank accounts — Both of you have probably had separate bank accounts for personal use. You can still keep these bank accounts, but you need to open new ones to prepare for marriage. Consider opening a joint account to start saving for your wedding. You can also open several other bank accounts to improve money-saving strategies. You can use your joint account to collect and build funds for family use. You can use this to pay for utility bills, grocery shopping, or purchasing items for your new home. The key is to talk about the best strategy that will help both of you contribute to building funds for the family account.
- Build goals together — Discuss your goals and make sure that you are working to build a better future. If you plan to purchase a residential property, you can start looking for an affordable home mortgage loan. If you plan to start a business, you need to discuss how to build funds to sustain it. The key is to help each other fulfill your dreams while ensuring that you secure your family’s future.
- Invest in income-generating assets — Allocate some of your funds towards collecting assets or growing your investment portfolio. It would be best if both of you start learning smart tactics in investing money towards profitable ventures. This way, you can both significantly improve your finances.
It’s never too early to prepare your finances for the future. Remember, getting married may be the next big step for now. However, you may find yourself raising kids and needing additional funds to sustain your family’s needs. Thus, you have to do everything you can to solve existing money problems as early as now.
Aside from this, you need to educate yourself on how to financially support yourself and your family. Knowing the right financial strategies will not only help you avoid major money issues. It can also save your marriage in the future. Thus, you need to start making positive changes in your financial health. Ensure that your partner is also helping you with your journey towards financial freedom and stability.
