A guest post from south of the border, Dual Income No Kids (DINKs) Finance brings some valuable reminders for how to work on integrating couple’s finances. While this is particularly useful for those who are starting to live together or getting married, several of these tips are useful throughout the process of integrating finances as a couple.

Image by Kristian D.

First, is taking a realistic look at your compatibility in relation to money. A long term relationship is for better or worse, and that can often be linked to the financial side of your lives. While this process looks differently for everyone, a few key aspects include:

Be honest and objective about how you work, or don’t work together;

Consider big lifestyle issues like career goals, lifestyle expectations, opinions about debt and spending, interest in kids and what your financial approach to having them would be;
Take into account your family backgrounds, past money experiences, and the baggage that can come along with both.
Another, often dicey, subject to consider is whether or not to establish a pre-nuptial agreement. People’s opinions vary greatly, but at the end of the day, an agreement helps you to establish what you feel comfortable with and allows you to talk through many of the compatibility issues that are important. If you can’t work out a pre-nuptial agreement, there is likely something else underlying.

Next, discuss and establish joint goals. This is really the start of building your finances together. Working together toward joint goals is essential to integrating your finances. You can have all of your bank accounts linked, or none of them, but unless you are working together towards financial success, the rest is just administrative.

Decide whether to manage your accounts together or separate, or some combination thereof. This is a very personalized decision that must work for both partners. Back to point one, don’t just assume that you both have the same opinions on this. You may have strong feelings one way or another, which may or may not align, and you’ll have to work this out.

Some of the administrative details for married couples will make a big impact on your financial bottom line as a couple. Consider the tax implications of being married, how to make the most of employer benefits by comparing benefits such as retirement, extended medical coverage, etc. It is also good to consider the need for disability or life insurance in the case of worst case scenarios. Make sure that you have updated wills, no matter your age, and you might reconsider beneficiaries who are listed for investments or life insurance.

Remember, integration is a continual process. You might be married for years and still sorting out how to manage your differences. This is life. Make the effort and you’ll be glad you did so.

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