Valentine's Day: 6 essential tips for couples to create lasting wealth (2024)

Why should you do financial planning together as a couple?

Social media romance aside, real couple goals are when people build a life together by discussing, planning and implementing ways to be financially free by meeting their financial goals.

Foundations of solid relationships are built over a structured, planned and well-executed financial plan.

Life will have its ups and downs, planning for tough times, having an emergency fund, and investing for a brighter future in good times will ensure that love and bonding can continue in abundance.

Let this Valentine's Day be a perfect opportunity for you and your spouse to build financial resilience together.

Tips for long-term wealth creation as a couple

While doing financial planning as a couple, some of the steps you may take together include the following.

Consolidation of household income and expenses: Joint financial planning allows the consolidation of household income and expenses through a common family budget. The family budget can include all income sources for the couple, such as salary, business income, rent, dividend, interest, and any other income. Similarly, the couple can discuss all personal and family expenses and list them in the budget.

You can open a joint bank account, and both partners can transfer their share of the contribution to that account. The money can then be used from this joint account for spending towards the family expenses. That way, both partners will be well aware of the money in the account and where and how it is being spent.

Joint prioritisation of financial goals: The couple can sit together and list down all financial goals, joint as well as personal. They can then map the goals to investments. If the amount available for investments towards goals is not sufficient, the couple can jointly prioritise the financial goals and invest in the order of priority.

Household fiscal discipline: In the earlier section, we discussed how couples can prepare a common family budget and spend through a joint bank account. Whenever any partner makes an impulsive spend or needless purchase, the other partner can step in and restrain the impulsive spend. It will help maintain fiscal discipline at the family budget level.

Continuity and succession in case of any mishap: Life is uncertain, and any unexpected mishap can strike any partner at any time. However, as both partners are jointly involved in the financial planning process, the other partner can take over. Thus, joint financial planning ensures continuity and succession in case of any mishap.

Both partners can nominate each other in all financial products. Similarly, they can make a will and name each other as the beneficiary. In such an arrangement, the assets can be smoothly passed on to the surviving partner in the event of one partner's demise.

Better relationship: Joint financial planning involves consensus building and mutual discussions. It further leads to collaborative decision-making for the common purpose of fulfilling financial goals. These collective decisions are based on trust, leading to a better relationship among the couple.

The above quote from Helen Keller highlights the importance of teamwork. Achieving financial goals together can be the foundation of a couple's relationship. While financial distress can break a relationship, financial success together can make the relationship bond unbreakable. Hence, it makes sense for the couple to come together in all aspects of life whether love, relationship, health, career, and of course finance. This Valentine's Day, take this opportunity to embark on the financial planning journey together with your spouse and build financial resilience as a couple to create long-term wealth.

Mayank Bhatnagar, Co-founder and COO, FinEdge

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Published: 14 Feb 2024, 10:32 AM IST