Smart Cookies

Whether you’re about to walk down the isle, or you’re living together, or even married - do yourself a favor and give yourself the peace of mind that comes from financial confidence. When we wrote our second book about Couples and Money we discovered that, for couples, it all comes down to five simple questions.

Do I Know Both of Our Numbers?

When you sit down to have the ”money talk” , figure out exactly what’s coming in (your combined take-home pay) and what’s going out (all of your shared expenses). If combined expenses are 50 per cent of combined take-home pay, you should each contribute half of your individual take-home pay to a joint account. It’s fair to contribute equal percentages of your pay rather than equal amounts.

Does My Partner Have Debt?

If your partner does have debt, that’s okay, as long as the both of you work on a plan together to determine the fastest way to pay down the debt so that the both of you can start working on your dreams.

Do I have Debt?

If you have debt, have you disclosed the full amount to your partner? If you haven’t, you may want consider going into the conversation armed with your plan to pay it off. To help figure out your plan, have a read here.

What is Your Spending Plan Together?

You don’t want to micromanage your partner but maybe after admitting out loud your tendency to spend $20 a day on snacks and coffee, you can decide together if you’d rather put that money toward sipping cerveza on the beach at the end of the year. We find it useful in our relationships to know exactly how much each of us are contributing to paying off any debt, and also how much we are each contributing to our individual and joint savings goals each month. You can use the spending plan tools here to get you started.

Do I know Both of Our Credit Scores?

Knowing your credit score will determine how easily the both of you can truly live your dreams together. Getting married means that your partner’s credit will determine how easy or difficult it is for you to get a home, a loan to start a business, or even a cell phone. You can find out how to get your credit score for free here.

Do I Have Credit In My Own Name?

No matter how you decide to divvy up the financial responsibilities with your partner, be sure to have at least one bank account and debit/credit card in your own name. This is not only important in establishing credit in your name, but it allows you to have some money for personal expenses and for investments that your partner may not want to make with your joint funds. Robyn had no credit in her own name when she was married. And though she and her husband had a joint line of credit of $80,000 when they were together, she was unable to get more than $500 in her name alone after they split up (even though she had almost $120,000 invested into her home!).

Its isn’t always sexy to talk about money with your partner, but take it from us, it’s WELL worth it. If you have any questions about how to have the talk, or how to answer your couples and money questions, leave us a note below.

Here’s to being smart, rich and fabulous TOGETHER!!