Personal Finance Essentials

Marriage Planning

Marriage Planning

Conversations Most Couples Never Have

And Pay for Later

Because money is one of the leading causes of divorce, the marriage’s success could well be determined by the financial rules and habits that new couples establish. Seemingly innocuous questions such as who pays the phone bill are fraught with emotional charges, reflections of your upbringing, and definitions of masculinity, femininity, power and self-respect, and therefore carry incredible implications for marriage.

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Planning Your Wedding Without Going Into Debt

Plan a meaningful wedding within your actual means — because starting a marriage in debt only accelerates one of its leading causes.

20 Questions to Ask Yourselves – and Each Other

Before you marry, answer these 20 questions together — your financial compatibility may predict your marriage’s survival more than you think.

Prenuptial Agreements

Prenuptial agreements are how smart couples protect their children and their assets.

Combining Your Finances After Marriage

Most newlyweds keep spending like they’re single. It’s one of the costliest mistakes a marriage can make.

Buying
Your First
Home
Together

Buying your first home together requires serious advance planning — the cash needed upfront alone can reach six figures.

Life
Insurance for Married
Couples

If someone depends on your income, life insurance isn’t optional — and the coverage most couples have isn’t enough.

Retirement Planning
as a
Couple

Retirement planning for two is far more complex than doubling a solo plan.

Social Security and Pension Benefits for Couples

The retirement income decisions couples make once cannot be unmade — and the wrong ones can leave a surviving spouse struggling for decades.

IRA and Retirement Accounts for Married Couples

The retirement account decisions married couples ignore can cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Estate Planning for Married Couples

Without the right documents, the law — not you — decides what happens to everything you’ve built.

Long-Term Care Planning for Couples

Long-term care costs can wipe out a lifetime of savings in months — and most couples never see it coming.

Financial Planning Through Divorce

The financial decisions made in divorce are largely permanent — and almost always made under the worst possible conditions.