In today’s world where 43% of marriages end in divorce, it is important to make sure you’ve got your finances in order before you tie the knot. The number one cause for divorce today? Money.

Before you get married, there are a few steps you can take to make sure you are protecting yourself and your future spouse.

Consider having an attorney create a pre nuptial agreement.

 A pre-nuptial agreement is a contract entered into by the two people getting married. The main purpose of the pre-nuptial agreement is the division of the assets in the event of a divorce. Call it marriage insurance if you will.

Try handling a joint account together before you get married.

Before my husband and I got married, we kept our separate checking accounts, but started a joint account for bills. At the time, we were making almost the same amount of money, so we’d each contribute the same amount to cover the bills. When rent or the electric bill came due, we would write the check out of that account. It was a good test on how we wanted to handle our finances once we got married and we still had our own separate funds.

Consider setting up an account with a mortgage broker that will allow your wedding guests to make deposits into an account for a down payment on a home.

I first heard of it last year and loved the idea.  I know the mortgage company that we got our mortgage through offered this type of program.

Talk about who is going to be in charge of paying bills, how much you are going to save, and if you are going to consolidate any bills once you are married. I know in my household it works if I am in charge of paying bills.

I like to know how much money we have and where it’s going. I also contribute 6% of my pay into my 401K and then I put 20% of my paycheck directly into savings. Since mine and my husband’s salaries are pretty close, it ends up being around 10% of our total income being saved.

Getting married is stressful enough, so eliminating one obstacle and possibly preventing problems in the future is a great idea. Sit down, talk about it, and I’m sure it will be a great foundation to a happy marriage.

Posted under 401k, Marriage, Money, Save Your Money

This morning I logged in to check my 401k performance, and I braced myself for the worst.  I knew that I had lost money, but I wasn’t exactly sure of how much.  Right now my portfolio is down 22.9%.  Needless to say I am a little bummed.  I am looking at this as a learning experience.  I am still young, but going forward I am going to make sure that I have money for retirement set aside not only in my 401k, but also in a CD or money market account as well.   

Currently I contribute 6% of my pay to my 401k automatically each month because my employer matches $1.15 per dollar I put in, up to 6%.  It would be crazy if I didn’t do it, because that is free money.  The reason I have so much company stock is because when they match, they put it all into company stock.  Right now I wish I didn’t have that much company stock.  The reason I chose to put so much into the Franklin Templeton Foreign Equity is because it was doing so well historically.  It is currently performing second to worst. 

 As soon as things get better with the stock market, I plan on selling some of my company stock.  Hopefully I won’t lose a lot of money but who knows what the future brings.  I’ll update next month on the current performance then.  Hopefully I’ll be out of the red!

Posted under 401k, Economy, Investments, Money, Retirement

Personally I love when people post their debt reduction and savings plans. I am updating my debt reduction this morning. I decided to take some money out of savings and pay on our student loan debt. I’ve also consolidated it at a much much lower interest rate. The personal peace of mind is priceless to me, so I decided it was worth it. We do still have a nice “cushion” in our savings account, but now that our student loan balance is down to a more comfortable level and I know we aren’t getting eaten alive in interest, I’m going to start saving more money for our emergency fund, a new car, and also for retirement. I’m proud to say we are under the $10,000 mark, and I hope to get under the $5,000 mark by the end of this year. I’m going to take half the money I make online and put towards this debt, and the other half I will put in savings. I can’t wait to get this paid off!

Posted under Money, My Debt Reduction, Pay Off Debt, Student Loans