To get married is the most joyful thing in life. This is the stage that bachelorhood ends and the beginning of a new life where the newly wedded couples share love and joy. Finance has a great role to play when it comes to family life and there are certain important things a newly married couple should consider. Here are few important tips.

1. Make a Household Budget

Making a budget for the household expenses will help a newly married couple to have decent surplus. This can be done by listing out all your committed and non-committed expenses which include groceries, house rent, and utility bills so on. One should have a control on non-committed expenses to ensure smooth sailing in personal financial life cycle. It is important to note that as an individual we may have lived differently when it comes to food and living habits but after marriage one should look at optimum utilization of resources to have proper expenditure pattern. Having a budget for expenses will ensure that we are left with enough surplus to invest for future goals.

2. Update financial documents

Updating all the financial documents is very important to ensure there are no hurdles that one would face in life. This includes updating the details like spouse name, nominations, address in case if there is any change etc. In most cases Indian woman change their surname and one should update the same at all places starting with your PAN card to ensure hassle free financial transactions. This would severely our ability to invest in case it is not done on time.

3. Consolidate liabilities

One may have liabilities before marriage such as Education, Vehicle or Personal Loans. Consolidating all these liabilities is very important as it helps in reducing the burden and will enhance monthly savings towards future goals. This can be done by mapping individual’s surplus savings and repaying the liabilities. There is no use if one life partner is investing for future and the other is repaying liabilities.

4. Identify & Prioritize Goals

Now as you have started your new life together, there will be new goals and new dreams in your life . These goals may be buying a home, buying a car, retirement etc. Newly married couple should discus transparently and come to an understanding of their goals and requirements. Now once the goals are identified, you should think of prioritizing the goals as this helps in allocating your savings and investments effectively.

5. Diversify Your Investments

At individual level you may have started your investments prior to your marriage. Now one should look at the investments at a family level to reduce the overlapping of investments into same avenues. This can be done by listing all your investments and by doing a proper diversification of investments into various asset classes.

6. Emergency & Risk Plan

Emergency planning and risk planning will help a family to foresee probable risks and plan accordingly for it. Most important things that we should plan for is risk through loss of life, health and income. It is very imperative to create an emergency fund and also to go for adequate health and life insurance. To cover the risk to life, it would be a good idea to buy an adequate Term Plan. It is important to note that the medical insurance provided by the employer is often inadequate to cover the entire risk. It would be a good idea to buy a top-up health plan to cover health risk.

7.Plan Your Family Life (Child)

Last but not the most least, it is important to plan for your family (adding a child to your family), which has a greater impact on your complete financial life cycle. Couples should discuss and decide about their children. In fact having a child is the most joyful and celebrated event in one’s life. It also important to decide on when you are planning to start your family. This is important because you can plan properly for the child since you would know the exact timeframe.

Conclusion:

The foundation of any marital relationship is built on trust and love. It may take some time for newlyweds to get used to each other’s style of living as well as behavior. There also may be initial hesitation in openly discussing matters related to their finances. The involvement of a neutral third party such as an financial advisor or financial planner may help the couple bridge their differences.
Plan Your Family Life