Day 19 / 31 Discuss Finances with your Partner

Now that you are getting ready to take full control of your finances and future goals, this is a good moment to discuss and share your financial planning with your partner – if you have not done so already.

Discussing money matters and making sure you have the same short-term and long-term goals in mind is essential to not only achieving your financial goals but also keeping your relationship healthy and happy. At the end of the day if you are trying to save, invest or grow your capital whilst your partner is more of the “let’s spend it all now” school, you likely both wind up frustrated with each other, meaning both your financial goals and your relationship happiness will take a hit and suffer sooner or later.

Decide on the right way of bringing up finances with your partner: a formal meeting, a picnic in the park or during a home-made dinner with a bottle of wine.. Whatever you think works best, especially if your partner might be a little reactive to the idea of talking about money.

Once you have arranged a day and time to talk, go through the various aspects of your financial lives to discuss where you are now, what your goals are and how you’d like to get there. Think of the following points:

• Division of money – how do you currently share your money in joint and individual accounts?
• Net worth – what is your current and target joint net worth? 
• Expenses – what do your joint monthly expenses look like now and in an ideal situation? 
• Debt – how much debt do you both have, individually and together and how will you pay this off?
• Savings – how much do you currently have in savings and what is your goal? 
• Income – what is your joint annual income at the moment? Do you want to increase this?
• Pensions – what are the pensions that you are both building up at the moment? 
• Investing – do you or your partner want to invest and do both of you feel comfortable with this? 
• Financial security – review your insurance policies and estate planning together.

Once you’ve done this and hopefully had a positive meeting, log in to Facebook or Twitter and share some of your new joint goals. More on this topic can be found in Step 55: Discuss Finances with your Partner in the 100 Steps Mission to Financial Independence.