Money Matters: Good Financial Investments for Newly Married Couples
After spending tens of thousands of dollars on your wedding, it is time to face the music: what should you invest in to give you a more comfortable life in the future?
How do you want to retire? Do you want to travel the world or perhaps, live in an exclusive senior care community?
While you may think that these are decades from where you are now, remember that time moves so fast. One day, you’re a glowing 27-year-old bride and the next, you’re in your 50s and looking at your kid’s graduate from college.
That’s why it pays to talk about the unsettling issues of finances this early on in your married life. The worst jump point for any marriage is to spend money that you cannot afford on your wedding.
There are plenty of ways to make your wedding memorable without spending tens of thousands of dollars on it. You can have a simple wedding ring and hire a jewelry retouching service to make it look good in the photos.
There are plenty of tricks to make your wedding charming and elegant without spending all your savings on it.
1. Consolidate Assets and Liabilities
Finances are tricky once you get married. Hopefully, you’ve talked long and hard about this aspect of your married life.
One of the first things you have to do is consolidate your assets and liabilities. List down your assets and debts, if there are any. It is important to know what you have and what you owe.
This way, you can take a good hard look at your current financial standing and make the necessary changes in your lifestyle.
2. Discuss Financial Priorities
You need to know if you are in the same boat when it comes to finances. Do you want to make regular donations to charity?
Do you want to spend more or invest more? Once you have children, are you planning to finance them through college or are you going to encourage them to apply for scholarships?
These are important money matters that have to be discussed by any newly married couple.
3. Look for a House
A house is a major investment. It’s not an easy investment to make. But by now, you should have already decided whether to get one or not. Investing in a house should be done as early as possible in your marriage.
This will give you enough time to pay off the mortgage and enjoy your money when you’re old enough to retire. Make sure that your budget can afford the monthly amortization.
Although a house is important, it is not so important that you will get into a huge debt you cannot get out of for it. Be cautious when making this huge investment.
4. Try to Become Self-employed
Whether it’s working as a freelancer, starting a business, or buying a franchise, it’s important to eventually not depend on someone’s business to make ends meet. Strive to be self-employed in the future.
Talk about what your interests and passion are. These could be your inspiration for starting a business. You might want to start tinkering with the idea early on in your marriage, so you have a lot of room for growth, mistakes, and adjustments.
5. Build an Emergency Fund and Start Paying Off Your Debts
When you open your joint bank account, take that time to open an emergency fund, too. At first, your emergency fund might not be much. You can only put a couple of hundreds of dollars in a month.
That’s okay. Don’t lose hope because your priority when you first get married is to pay off your debts. Although you are trying to set money aside to build up your savings, you have to put your debts first so you won’t have to pay high-interest fees anymore.
6. Consider Stocks and Mutual Funds
The easiest way to start an investment portfolio is by investing in the stock market and mutual funds. With a stock market, you can become a day trader and make money by selling and buying stocks.
There are plenty of resources on the internet about trading on the stock market, so make sure you have plenty of time to do your research. If you are uncomfortable with trading, you can do a long-term investment or invest in mutual funds which are usually safer than trading. Here’s a good resource from VectorVest about some differences in trading and long-term investment.
Believe it or not but if you manage your finances well, you will have a happier marriage. The majority of marriages break down because of money problems.
So, you both have to be cautious where you put your money and prudent with the investments you try to make work. Remember that your financial security now and in the future lies in the decisions you make early on in your marriage.