Financial steps newly married women should take

Sumita has just got married. She wants to know if and how her financial position changes post marriage. Sumita began working early in life and has spent the last eight years as an independent and successful software professional. She is now expected to share household expenses. She and her husband are yet to put a plan in place for joint financial goals, such as buying a house, planning for holidays, car upgrades, planning for a baby and the like. Sumita is feeling slightly overwhelmed with all these decisions. How can she ensure she maintains her financial independence, while being collaborative on joint financial goals?

To start with, money management is no longer a husband’s prerogative. Modern women like Sumita must get involved as equal financial partners, more so as successful sizable earners. She must be more involved than just paying regular bills and handling monthly savings. She should educate herself about finances and investments. The couple should jointly review their bills, investments, their household budget and saving plans on a monthly basis and Sumita should ideally schedule these reviews so she is fully aware.

A good idea is to have a common expense account into which both contribute towards common expenses and goals. The rest of the income can be saved and invested independently. While the contribution to the joint goals and expenses are mandatory for both, spending out of their own funds is voluntary. Sumita will find this a good step before making every financial dealing on a joint basis. With time, the couple should be able to get there.

Sumita can thus enjoy a sense of financial independence, controlling her personal savings and expenditures. It might also allow her to maintain an independent credit history, making her eligible for loans, irrespective of her husband’s credit profile. She can also allocate funds for her own goals such as maintaining her emergency fund, planning for a sabbatical when the child arrives, or providing for her parents. A combination of common pool and individualized pools of saving and investment might be a good option for Sumita.

(The content is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL). Contributions have been made by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta)