Money is often the center point of many arguments, even amongst long-time partners. It’s only human nature to be protective over our hard-earned property, after all. But rather than letting financial choices be the bane of your relationship, it’s important to come together to meet both of your goals. Your trusty financial advisors at Maggi Tax will show you the best way to create a financial plan with your partner so you can both reap the rewards of success!
Encourage Open And Honest Communication
The most important part about discussing financial plans with your partner is for both sides to be completely honest and transparent about personal financial goals and concerns. Any thoughts that are withheld could come back to serve as a point of contention later on, so it’s best to get everything out in the open now while you both have high hopes for a brighter future.
Take A Moment To Evaluate Your Current Financial Situation
After discussing your main goals, you need to compare them to your current financial situation. For the best chance of meeting your goals, both of you must have a clear understanding of where you currently stand from a money-related standpoint. It will then be easier to come together to identify possible obstacles and how far along you might already be in reaching the desired end result.
Prioritize And Arrange Your Collective Goals
Once all of your goals have been discussed and pooled together, the next hurdle is coming to an agreement on which goals should be prioritized first and which ones can wait a little longer. This step can be the start of many arguments between partners, but overcoming this difficult part is essential in coming up with the best strategy that meets both of your needs, even if some compromises are required in the process.
Agree On A Shared Budget
The next hurdle will be agreeing on how much of the income or funds should be allocated to each goal or budget. It may take a long time to work out the details in this step, and may even span a couple of days’ worth of discussions. The important thing is to keep working together until you both come to a mutual understanding. Don’t forget to set aside a budget for emergencies!
Discuss Who Will Bear Which Responsibilities
Carrying out a financial plan can be a bit much for a single person to handle alone. You will need someone to be responsible for making the payments, and another person to keep track of the budgeting. You may also want to allocate the best speaker to handle communications with financial institutions, should the need arise. Basically, everyone needs to play their part from beginning to end.
Have Regular Meetings To Track Your Progress
It’s easy to lose track of financial progress, especially when they consist of long-term goals. That’s why it’s up to each partner to help the other stay on course. Having regular meetings, even if it’s just bi-weekly or once a month, can give you the chance to re-assess your situation and make any changes if you need to. And rather than arguing or dealing punishment for veering off course, it can be more productive to re-motivate each other with reminders of how rewarding it will be to reach your financial goals.
Need A Third Opinion? Schedule A Consultation With Maggi Tax!
Whether you need help with identifying your goals, planning out strategies, or staying on track with your progress, the financial advisors at Maggi Tax are here to assist you! We highly encourage you to bring your partner in for a complimentary consultation to help you make smart decisions and meet your financial goals. Call (727) 799-1701 today to get started!
