Your Questions Answered: We married recently, how can we foster financial unity in our joint life?

livemint.com:

Money is a stressful topic for many of us. It stems from our upbringing, personal experiences, values, and beliefs. Money can send you on a guilt trip at times.

It becomes more challenging when your new life partner has money ideas that are different from yours. Discuss these suggestions with your wife and try them out. Both of you list your incomes and expenses separately in a ledger.

Categorise the expenses into “basic" and “discretionary" for a couple of months. Once you and your spouse get a clear picture of your spending pattern, set a realistic savings target. Thereafter, manage expenses efficiently as a team.

The thumb rule is to save first and then meet expenses within the budget available. Budgeting also helps you gain clarity of thought, making it easier for you to communicate with your partner about finances. When you have a common expense joint account, your spouse will need to know and approve every withdrawal.

This will help you keep a check on your spending habits. Always maintain enough money to meet 3 to 6 months of household expenditure as an emergency corpus. This should be easily accessible so that you can take care of any unforeseen emergency or a sudden unplanned expense.

Note down details of all your financial assets: bank accounts, FD, RD, MF, PPF, EPF, NPS, insurance policies, etc. Maintain all the documents together in a folder organised into categories. This can then be easily accessed by either or both of you at any given point in time.

Ensure that each asset has a nominee and the details are updated. This is extremely important for both of you. Define your individual money responsibilities.