So you just got engaged, congrats! But are you Financially Engaged?

If you haven’t already discussed your finances with your fiancé, now is the time to start.

We get it. Money is a personal issue and communicating about money is tough. In fact, a number of recent studies have highlighted that about one-third (or more) of newlyweds aren’t aware of their spouse’s credit score, annual income, debt, or spending habits.

Money habits can vary significantly depending on the person and how they were raised. One Experian survey pointed out that male respondents were willing to spend $1,259 without telling their spouse, while female respondents averaged $383.

Since you’re making a lifelong commitment to each other, it is incredibly important to share where you stand financially and remove these potential stressors upfront.

We began discussing our finances about 2 years into our relationship (we didn’t get engaged until three years later). We started by laying out a rough estimate of the debts and assets we had — and it was a big relief! Discussing where we stood financially made our relationship stronger and removed potential surprises down the road.

Discussion Tips

Here are a few tips when discussing finances with your fiancé (or significant other):

• Be honest and open-minded
• Calculate and share your net worth (i.e., your assets less your debt)
• Develop a game plan for how to tackle any debt together
• Discuss your credit scores and credit reports (this will matter when buying a home later)
• Make communicating about your finances a habit

Keep following us to find out about the simple tools we use to be financially engaged.

Questions

How did you and your fiancé start talking about finances? What was challenging and what made it easier? We’d love to know!