Whether you are planning to get married or are already enjoying your wedded bliss, there is no time like the present to get financial advice from a knowledgeable family lawyer in Houston. You and your partner should put more planning into your financial future than you did into your wedding; after all, one only lasts a day and the other is for the rest of your lives!
Financial discussions are not always easy, but laying out a clear roadmap early on can actually be beneficial to the overall health of your marriage. Money issues are a huge contributor to unhappiness in a partnership, and Houston family lawyers have seen time and again how working together earlier can avoid a lot of stress later on in the relationship.
Planning for the Future
It is impossible to peer into the future and know everything that you and your spouse are going to face together, but there are some pretty obvious considerations to make. Talking with your partner and possibly with a Houston family lawyer can help you determine how you plan to approach many of the financial considerations facing newlyweds such as:
· College and/or student loans
· Purchasing a home
· Planning for children
· Funding retirement
· Life insurance policies
· Other large purchases (cars, furniture, etc.)
· Travel
Planning for these types of things can cause some stress, but it can also be very empowering. Knowing that you eventually want to be able to take a trip to Paris and then taking concrete steps to make it happen can be a wonderful bonding experience and will also pay off in the experience of a lifetime. Family lawyers in Houston see all too often how couples get into financial difficulties by taking trips or making large purchases when they have not planned ahead to make them realities.
Planning for the Present
While just as important, sometimes figuring out what to do about finances right now is a little less fun. Still, you and your spouse need to take the opportunity to look at your current financial situation in order to make your long-term goals a reality. There are some considerations that are especially important for newlywed planning, too, when it comes to how to combine (or not combine) your finances, such as:
· What are your expectations when it comes to money
· Which finances and accounts will be combined, and which will not
· How will you deal with debt brought into the marriage
· Will there be resentment if one spouse makes more money than the other
· What are your views on using credit
Budgeting
In order to develop a long-term plan, you and your partner will need to use the above information to create a workable budget. This should include:
· Income (wages, businesses, investments)
· Assets (accounts, stocks, retirement, property)
· Debts (school, home loans, business loans, credit cards)
· Expenses (ongoing and incidental)
By laying out what you have and what you need, you can develop a plan to help meet your current requirements, as well as to save for the future. A good family lawyer in Houston can help you put all of this information into perspective to create workable plan to meet your financial needs.