Steps to help you improve your financial health as a couple (2024)

FAQs

How to grow financially as a couple? ›

Many financial experts agree that financial health includes four key components: Spend, Save, Borrow, and Plan. It is crucial that you actively work on improving the health of each one.

The 50-30-20 budget rule states that you should spend up to 50% of your after-tax income on needs and obligations that you must have or must do. The remaining half should dedicate 20% to savings, leaving 30% to be spent on things you want but don't necessarily need.

The No. 1 rule for saving your marriage is communication. All other efforts to improve a relationship will likely succeed with this foundation. It allows partners to build strong bonds even during tough times and resolve issues easily.

Couples That Budget Together …

The most popular percentage ratio is the 50/30/20 rule, where: 50% goes to your needs (rent, mortgages, utilities, debts, life insurance, essential groceries) 30% goes to your wants (entertainment, dining out, shopping, travel) 20% goes to savings (emergency fund, retirement, insurance)

Why 20 percent is a good goal for many people. There are various rules of thumb that relate to savings, whether it's retirement or emergency savings, but a general consensus is to set aside between 10 percent and 20 percent of your income each month for savings.

The couple's total income goes into a joint account, out of which expenses are paid. Then an equal amount of spending money can be transferred into their separate accounts. Couples should only transfer money into their separate accounts after all their bills, automatic savings and debt payments are taken out.

This includes strategic and tactical steps to continually evaluate and improve four key financial indicators: cash flow, credit, customers, and collateral. We call these indicators the 4 C's.

What are the 4 C's of health? ›

The four primary care (PC) core functions (the '4Cs', ie, first contact, comprehensiveness, coordination and continuity) are essential for good quality primary healthcare and their achievement leads to lower costs, less inequality and better population health.

If you find that your partner is hiding accounts from you, such as credit cards, savings or investments, this can be a breach of trust and a major red flag. You don't want to find out they have secret debt by a debt collector showing up at your door.

If you are feeling financially trapped in a relationship, you should understand that you may be entitled to alimony in addition to a fair distribution of the marital property. Rehabilitative alimony provides funds from your spouse so can rejoin the workforce.

As a couple, you decide how to divide your income between your accounts. You could maintain one shared account or credit card that is used to pay for household expenses. At the same time, each person maintains their own separate accounts for personal spending or other specific purposes.

Once upon a time, such spending was a huge, homewrecker of an issue for us. But in September of 2010, my husband, Chris, and I adopted an allowance system. Ever since, we've granted each other $500 a month to spend however we want, no questions asked. And this is how we're still married.

There are a few ways to do it, and there's no one “right” answer. You could just split everything 50-50 and call it a day. But if your incomes aren't anywhere close to equal, one person may be putting entire paychecks toward shared bills, while the other has a lot of extra money to spend.