Marriage and Money

Build and Grow Together

Taking your relationship to the next level requires real heart-to-heart and openness. Now that you have decided to take a leap of faith, be prepared to talk money. Finances can at times make or break a relationship. When one of the persons in the relationship has better finances, the other may tend to feel down on themselves. This feeling can bring on the r-word, you guessed it RESENTMENT. Don’t let money become a hindrance to building an amazing life together. Having the proper tools and resources to help ground your lives, investments and ability to manage money is paramount. I reached out to Ms. Trisia Carter, Financial Consultant and asked a few questions on relationships and finance. Let’s check out her advice and suggestions.

How important are individual finances if you’re preparing for marriage?

Finances are extremely important from making a budget for the wedding. Establishing a financial goal that includes both parties.  Create a budget.  Make sure you have adequate insurance.  Decide how to split the financial responsibilities. 

Share some key steps a couple could follow to ensure money does not become an issue?

Be open about everything that deals with money from salary, pension, 401K plans, credit scores, outstanding debt.  Keeping secrets is what destroys marriages.

Can you give our readers three tools and resources to support them with money management?

Create an excel budget template.  You can go to investor.gov to find many tools and calculators to analyze various situations. For example, a compound interest calculator can be used to determine how much interest you will receive on your money. 

What is the best approach to repair or increase your credit score?

I believe that the best approach to repairing or increasing credit scores is to make on-time payments. Next, you want to have a handle on bill payments. Try to only use 30% of your credit line usage to increase your score. Create a filing system, either paper or digital, for keeping track of monthly bills. My favorite is to set due dates and alerts that bills are coming up and automate payments from your bank account.

Trisia M Carter I am the co-founder of 2Friends and Finance. I have over 20 years of experience in the business. I have an undergraduate degree in Economics and a Master’s Degree in Finance and I am currently pursuing my Doctoral Degree in Finance at Pace University.  I have work experience being a tax preparer, realtor, a mortgage underwriter for a firm on Wall Street, an auditor, project manager, operation manager and Director. I feel with the knowledge that I have gained from the various positions that I held exposed me to various levels of finance that applies to financial literacy. Learn more at https://2friendsandfinance.com

Getting your money in order is what Ms. Carter is teaching us today. It’s never too late to grow, build and save together.