How Well Do You Know Each Other’s Financial Habits?
This article and financial quiz for engaged couple was written by Nily Glaser, the author of the A-wedding Day Wedding Planning Guide Book that is available to you for free.
It is actually an answer to one of our readers who asked: “Can the spending pattern in a wedding determine the level of financial literacy of the couple?” A great question!
Cash Credit Cards Calculate Use your computer Keep a ledger
Follow this post and decide for yourself.
Planning a wedding budget and Preparing for Marriage? Taking a Financial Compatibility Quiz should be a priority before starting your life together. When people fall in love, they find it difficult to bring up the topic of financial habits and to talk about money. Sharing your perspectives about money will help you resolve financial issues before they strain your relationship or marriage. Do it as soon as possible, long before you get married, because unresolved money issues are a leading cause of many broken marriages. Don’t be a statistic and don’t let your marriage be one of them.
You discuss the relationship you developed with each other. It is crucial that you also discuss your relationships with money. After all, you are two individuals who were brought up in different families, with different backgrounds and possibly have different savings and spending habits. You need to come to a financial arrangement that will make both of you comfortable as a married couple. You plan to get married and share your lives. This requires that you develop strong communication skills and openness. As you go over the financial quiz you may realize that either or both of you need to work on some aspects of Financial Management.
Money is most often a heavy topic and must be discussed and relationships are about openness and compromise. So lighten it! We provide you with an easy way to get into the Money discussion. You can even make it a game. For example, my husband and I discuss finances and money matters while playing MONOPOLY. First, we each jot down each question we would like to discuss, on a card. We place the cards face down in the center of the board. Whenever one of us lands on either CHANCES or COMMUNITY CHEST, he or I pick up a question card. We stop the game to discuss the issue. We keep the game for only so long so that it does not become a burden. We usually stop the game after no more than 5 issues have been discussed. Once you reach an understanding of each other’s financial ways, and come up with a financial blue print for your married life, you may even decide to develop a written family financial plan, that includes goals, individual duties, responsibilities and financial policies for both of you to follow. This is why I suggest that you engage in a Money Matters dialog as early in your relationship as possible.
The following questions are merely guidelines.
So, get yourself a piece of paper or cards and a pen get together over a cup of coffee, some other treat or a game (card games work well too. The winner brings up the question he – she would like to discuss.) and answer the questions that apply to your situation. Though most can be answered by True or False, whenever possible follow with a discussion.
FINANCIAL QUIZ for COUPLES:
- We talk about Money regularly. True False
- We never talk about money because my spouse to be avoids discussing money matters with me. True False
- It is rather difficult for me to talk about money because, my spouse to be interrupts me often or dismisses my points of view altogether. True False
- Circumstances change. Therefore, we must make a commitment to discuss money matters regularly.
- We need to decide how to divide up the money management tasks. True False
- We need to discuss having children and how this will affect our finances. True False
- We need to discuss where we should live and how this will affect our finances. True False
- One of us owns a home. We need to decide whether to place the other as a joint tenancy owner. True False
- In addition to the home, we need to discuss all of the assets such as an inheritance, that each of us acquired prior to our marriage. We need to decide whether the asset(s) should remain in his – her name alone or be joined. True False
- My future spouse shared with me how much he – she earns and how much he – she contributes to his – her 401 (k) plan at work each pay period. True False
- My future spouse shared with me how much debt, savings and investments he – she will bring into our marriage. True False
- My future spouse shared with me that he – she has filed bankruptcy __________ many years ago.
- I think that my future spouse is a saver. True False
- I think that my future spouse is a spender. True False
- I am aware of and comfortable with the money personality of my spouse to be. True False
- I feel my future husband – wife manages his – her own money wisely. True False
- We need to agree on the importance of and establishing a realistic household budget. True False
- Once we are married, we need to agree, before either one of us makes a sizeable purchase of a few hundred dollars or more. True False
- We need to agree on how much cash you need to live on and on what each of us is willing to give up in order to save money. True False
- We need to agree of how much we can take out of our budget for entertainment, trips, vacations etc. True False
- We need to discuss and agree to pull our resources together, before setting our wedding budget. True False
- Between us, we own more than five credit cards. True False
- We need to agree as to whether to have joint or separate checking and saving accounts. True False
- As we plan our future, we need to take into consideration the impact that marriage will have on our taxes. True False
- We need to discuss our short- and long-term financial goals with each other and eventually have the same financial dreams. True False
- We also need to share our retirement dreams with each other. True False
- It seems to me that my future spouse treats his – her money as his – her own private property. True False
- We need to talk about how my future spouse would feel if I wanted to quit my job and start a business. True False
- We need to talk about how comfortable each of us would feel if we had only one salary to support us. What if either my spouse or I wanted to quit his – her job, especially if it is to be a stay at home parent. True False
- My future spouse and I have already developed a financial plan. True False
Contributed by Nily Glaser, Author of the currently FREE a-wedding Day Wedding Planning Guide Book.
Being a wedding specialist and an author, I wrote a wedding planning guide book. available at the FREE ONLINE A-wedding Day Magazine. It makes wedding planning fun and stress free. NO! I am not selling you anything! You can download and print all or the parts of the book you need. IT IS FREE for subscribers! The wedding planning guide book includes information, tips, ideas, worksheets, sets of questions to ask when you interview vendors, checklists and more.
Copyrights © 2022 All Rights Reserved Nily Glaser, Gan Publishing
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Author Byline
Nily Glaser the founder of the A-wedding Day Magazine, is a published author who presented workshops for wedding professionals all over the USA. She is the author of the almost 400 page downloadable, personalized, printable Wedding Planning Guide – book. It contains information, tips, ideas, worksheets that include details to be used when interviewing vendors and checklist Using it, you won’t forget any detail. Yes, for a limited time, you can login, download and print what you need, FREE, with no strings attached. To get it Click Here
