Financial To-do List for Newly Married Couples

Marriage is one of the most exciting chapters of your life. However, it is also the time to buckle down and set financial goals - together. If you’re worried about how to get your financial journey onto the right track, worry not. We’ve created a financial to-do list for newly married couples!

You and your partner must be open and comfortable in discussing your life priorities, including your finances. What type of lifestyle would you want to have? Are you thinking about getting a home of your own, or will renting an apartment or condominium be alright for now? Are you planning to start having children soon?

Talking about your goals will make it easier for you to identify which of your many plans you need to prioritize. It will also help you adjust your own financial goals so that you and your partner can come up with a plan to achieve your goals together, and compromise where needed.

It would be ideal to open a joint savings account for the future, one that will remain untouched until a certain number of years. Unforeseen challenges may come up in the course of your married life, but you have to be strict about the money that you set aside. Talk with your partner, and specify what the money will be used for, and when you can use it. Are you thinking of starting a retirement fund? Do you want to save up for your children’s education?

Discipline yourselves so that a certain amount goes into the “future fund” every month, and make sure that you never get tempted to withdraw the cash. Once you allow yourselves to “borrow” the money, it might lead you to never seeing the amount grow in the future.

Openly discuss with one another all your streams of income, and how much you currently earn. This includes disclosing if you have other assets, such as real estate or a potential inheritance or windfall. You and your partner must be open and honest with one another. You should also talk about whether all your assets after marriage will be conjugal, or if you will adopt a “What’s yours is yours” mentality. You also have to keep in mind the legal aspects of the marriage which are explicitly stated in the contract. Some couples opt to have prenuptial agreement to iron out these arrangements. Different things may suit different personalities. The key is to remain honest and understanding, every step of the way.

If you want to live life to the fullest while having an extra layer of protection for those rainy days that are sure to come, you and your partner must consider getting an insurance policy or two. Getting life and health insurance will give you and your partner a peace of mind, more so if you have children or family members relying on you.

To cover for accidents and hospitalization, you should check out the best health insurance in the Philippines, or search for critical illness insurance. One example is Allianz eAZy Health, an affordable and renewable 5-year insurance solution, and is the only insurance product in the market that offers enhanced critical illness coverage. To further secure your family’s future, you can also consider a renewable, ten-year insurance coverage plan that provides life and accident coverage, and a return of a portion of the total premium payments made, to provide for any unforeseen expenses. eAZy Protect, a ten-year insurance coverage plan that provides life and accident coverage, and a return of a portion of the total premium payments made, to provide for any unforeseen expenses.

If you are looking for permanent life insurance that also provides for investment opportunities , you may consider investing in a variable unit-linked policies or VUL in the Philippines, such as Allianz Diversify. Aside from the guarantee that your investments are being handled by professional fund managers, you can enjoy insurance protection of at least 5X your basic annual regular premium, providing you and your family with financial security and peace of mind. Find out more about Allianz Diversify here.

In the same way that you were honest about your assets and streams of income, you have to be transparent with each other about any debts or liabilities that you may have so that these can be paid off at the soonest possible time. The quicker you can pay off outstanding debt, the better. It doesn’t matter if the amount is large or small, or if there is interest or not. What matters is that you can keep track of all outstanding debt so you can begin planning as to how to pay them off.

One of the best ways to pay off debt is to set aside a portion of your monthly income to go into debt payments. However, you and your partner can also explore other available strategies to pay these off much quicker. As much as possible, avoid incurring any further debt while you’re still working on paying previous loans.

Anything can happen. If you rely solely on your income to cover all your needs, then you will never be ready in case something unexpected happens. In case of an emergency, it’s always good to have some extra money on hand so that you can continue providing for your need without much difficulty. Remember, failing to plan means planning to fail. If you don’t start building an emergency fund now, you may never be prepared for what life can throw at you.

Nowadays, there are many mobile applications that you can use to track your budget. Be very meticulous about listing down where your money goes, so that nothing goes unnoticed. List down all your expenses, and place this as part of your budget, so that these can be duly allocated for. Most importantly, stick to your agreed-upon budget. One of the worst things that you can do as a newly married couple is to begin living a life that you can’t afford.

Let’s face it, children are costly. Though they will bring you a lot of joy, you have to consider all the expenses that come along with raising children. From medical bills and daily supplies, to tuition fees, your expenses will grow exponentially with every child that you have. As early as now, determine how many children you wish to have so that you can start saving up accordingly. The sooner you start saving up, the more financially prepared to have kids you will both be.

Should only one of you work, or should both of you bring money into the house? You should talk about your streams of income as a couple, as this would significantly affect how you create your budget.

You should also think of ways as to how to have more streams of income. Being employed is always a good thing, but having a passive source of income is even better. Talk to one another if there are other ventures that you’re keen on looking into. These days, one cannot rely on just one source of income, as the economy is not always stable.

A lot of couples go into online selling or starting side hustles. If you have other skills, you can also think of accepting freelance projects that you can tackle during the weekend. The point is to identify the skills and tools at your disposal, and see how you can use these to earn more.

Dream together as a couple. Print out images of your dream house, your dream car, and even your dream careers. Stick them on a vision board that you can mount on your wall. This way, you’ll be reminded of your goals every time you wake up. While you have to be logical and realistic when it comes to your finances, you also should never forget to dream about the lives you want to build together.

Marriage brings so much love, happiness and mutual support to anyone’s life. However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. A lot of hard work is needed to ensure that you build a strong foundation, and set yourselves onto the right path. With this to-do list, we hope that we have helped you on your way to a more secure future!