Dear PWR Planner,

We are getting married soon and wondering if there are any financial steps we should be taking now.

Congrats! Getting married is an exciting time.

Financial steps to take before the wedding.

Document your Goals

• Discuss your financial goals (short, medium, and long-term).

• Do you want to buy a home, start planning for a baby, or create an emergency fund? What else?

• Document and prioritize the goals with as much detail as possible. List the amount needed, the target date, and if the goal will be jointly or individually funded.

Do a Credit Check

• Review your credit scores together.

• Pull full reports at annualcreditreport.com. It is good to know in advance if either of you needs to start working on increasing your credit score if needed.

Review your Balance Sheet

• Document all of your assets and debts on one page.

• Decide if you will combine accounts and money or not. While retirement accounts stay in your own name, you may decide to open a joint checking account, for example, to ease the management of your household finances.

Decide how Household Expenses will be Managed

• Who will take the lead on the household bills? While this usually falls to one individual, which is fine, both of you need to review money movement at least monthly.

• Create a joint cash flow, showing all income coming in and expenses going out to help both partners visualize how money is moving.

• Discuss any purchase limits. For example, many couples set a dollar limit, such as $500, and anything over that amount needs to be discussed before purchase.

• Review the 3 common ways couples manage household expenses with a partner and decide what is the best fit.

Investment Strategy

• Will you manage your investments jointly or individually? For example, will both of your portfolios be mirrors of each other or will you manage the entire portfolio holistically?

• Do you both have the same risk tolerance when it comes to investing? Share how each of you responded to the last market dip.

• Review your current investment accounts, the holdings (funds invested in each account), and the overall asset allocation (% stock, bonds, etc) to compare your investing strategies.

Joint Tax Planning

• Grab your last two (2) tax returns and review them together to see if there are any questions.

• Run a tax projection to see if it will make sense to file as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separate.

• Determine if you need to change your tax withholding to reflect the new tax status.

• Decide who will prepare your taxes and notify them of the upcoming marriage to see if there are any planning opportunities prior to tying the knot.

Align your Insurance Policies

• Document all life insurance policies.

• Determine if you are holding enough life insurance.

• If you both have great benefits at work, analyze who has better coverage.

• Call your property and casualty insurance providers to see if it will benefit you to consolidate your Auto, Home/Renters, Umbrella and Earthquake Insurance under one carrier.

• Consider insuring the engagement/wedding rings on a separate rider.

Estate Planning

• Discuss who you want to inherit your assets if something were to happen to one or both of you.

• Obtain your most recent estate planning document to review with your partner. Decide how to go about getting them updated now given the recent marriage.

• Document any separate property. Assets acquired before marriage are separate property, but if commingled with joint funds, they may become marital property depending on the state. This is extremely important to understand before you start moving money around.

• Update the beneficiary designations on all retirement accounts and life insurance as needed.

• Update the titling of your non-retirement assets. An estate planning attorney can help you decide which is best given your situation and goals.

Commit to communicating actively and openly about any money issues.

• Set up regularly scheduled meetings to review your finances and any financial issues you may be having.

• Seek help from a professional if you need help.

originally published 10/26/2018

Linda Rogers, CFP®, EA, MSBA is the owner and founder of Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR). Originally from New Jersey, Linda services clients throughout San Diego county and nationwide. She leads the design of PWR's investment portfolios which utilize broad, low-cost investments that integrate environmentally, socially, and governance (ESG) factors.

Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR) is a fee-only and fiduciary wealth management firm offering one-time comprehensive financial planning, ongoing impact-focused investment management and tax preparation services in San Diego and nationwide. PWR is a woman-owned firm that specializes in busy professionals and impact investors. Planning Within Reach, LLC and their advisors do not receive commissions and do not hold any insurance licenses or brokerage relationships.