Getting married is exciting, but it brings many challenges. One such challenge that you and your spouse will have to face is how to merge your finances. Planning carefully and communicating clearly are important, because the financial decisions that you make now can have a lasting impact on your future.

DISCUSS YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS

The first step in mapping out your financial future together is to discuss your financial goals Ameriprise Financial Abney Associates Team. Start by making a list of your short-term goals (e.g., paying off wedding debt, new car, vacation) and long-term goals (e.g., having children, your children's college education, retirement). Then, determine which goals are most important to you. Once you've identified the goals that are a priority, you can focus your energy on achieving them.

PREPARE A BUDGET

Next, you should prepare a budget that lists all of your income and expenses over a certain time period (e.g., monthly, annually). You can designate one spouse to be in charge of managing the budget, or you can take turns keeping records and paying the bills. If both you and your spouse are going to be involved, make sure that you develop a record-keeping system that both of you understand. And remember to keep your records in a joint filing system so that both of you can easily locate important documents.

BANK ACCOUNTS--SEPARATE OR JOINT?

At some point, you and your spouse will have to decide whether to combine your bank accounts or keep them separate. Maintaining a joint account does have advantages, such as easier record keeping and lower maintenance fees. However, it's sometimes more difficult to keep track of how much money is in a joint account when two individuals have access to it. Of course, you could avoid this problem by making sure that you tell each other every time you write a check or withdraw funds from the account Abney Associates Team A financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc.. Or, you could always decide to maintain separate accounts.

CREDIT CARDS

If you're thinking about adding your name to your spouse's credit card accounts, think again. When you and your spouse have joint credit, both of you will become responsible for 100 percent of the credit card debt. In addition, if one of you has poor credit, it will negatively impact the credit rating of the other.

If you or your spouse does not qualify for a card because of poor credit, and you are willing to give your spouse account privileges anyway, you can make your spouse an authorized user of your credit card. An authorized user is not a joint cardholder and is therefore not liable for any amounts charged to the account. Also, the account activity won't show up on the authorized user's credit record. But remember, you remain responsible for the account.

INSURANCE

If you and your spouse have separate health insurance coverage, you'll want to do a cost/benefit analysis of each plan to see if you should continue to keep your health coverage separate. For example, if your spouse's health plan has a higher deductible and/or co-payments or fewer benefits than those offered by your plan, he or she may want to join your health plan instead. You'll also want to compare the rate for one family plan against the cost of two single plans.

It's a good idea to examine your auto insurance coverage, too. If you and your spouse own separate cars, you may have different auto insurance carriers. Consider pooling your auto insurance policies with one company; many insurance companies will give you a discount if you insure more than one car with them. If one of you has a poor driving record, however, make sure that changing companies won't mean paying a higher premium.

EMPLOYER-SPONSORED RETIREMENT PLANS

If both you and your spouse participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, you should be aware of each plan's characteristics. Review each plan together carefully and determine which plan provides the best benefits. If you can afford it, you should each participate to the maximum in your own plan. If your current cash flow is limited, you can make one plan the focus of your retirement strategy. Here are some helpful tips:

-  If both plans match contributions, determine which plan offers the best match and take full advantage of it.

-  Compare the vesting schedules for the employer's matching contributions.

-  Compare the investment options offered by each plan--the more options you have, the more likely you are to find an investment mix that suits your needs.

-  Find out whether the plans offer loans--if you plan to use any of your contributions for certain expenses (e.g., your children's college education, a down payment on a house), you may want to participate in the plan that has a loan provision.

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Disse dage, er det svært at tale om college uden at nævne finansiel støtte. Men denne parring er ikke et ægteskab af kærlighed, men en nødvendighed. I mange tilfælde kan finansielle støtte være den afgørende faktor, om dit barn deltager i kollegiet af hans eller hendes valg eller selv deltager college overhovedet. Det er derfor det er vigtigt at udvikle en grundlæggende forståelse af finansiel støtte, før dit barn gælder for college. Uden denne viden, kan du have problemer med at forstå processen med at støtte bestemmelse, udfylder korrekt støtteansøgningerne og sammenligne de finansielle støtte awards, at dit barn får.

Men lad os se det i øjnene. Finansiel støtte oplysninger er nok ikke på nogens top ti liste over sengetid læsestof. Det kan være en skræmmende og forvirrende emne. Der er forskellige typer, forskellige kilder og forskellige formler for at vurdere dit barns støtteberettigelse. Her er nogle af de grundlæggende funktioner til at hjælpe dig i gang.

HVAD ER FINANSIEL STØTTE?

Finansiel støtte er penge distribueres primært af den føderale regering og gymnasier i form af lån, tilskud, stipendier eller arbejde jobs. En elev kan modtage både Forbundsrepublikken og college støtte.

Legater og stipendier er mere gunstige end lån, fordi de ikke behøver at være tilbagebetalt--de er gratis penge. I et arbejde program virker dit barn for et bestemt antal timer pr. uge (enten tændt eller slukket campus) for at tjene penge til college udgifter. Naturligvis, en ideel finansielle bistandspakke vil indeholde flere legater og stipendier end lån.

BEHOV-BASED AID VS. FORDEL STØTTEN

Finansiel støtte kan yderligere opdeles i to kategorier--behov-baseret støtte, som er baseret på dit barns finansielle behov; og fortjener støtte, som er tildelt i henhold til dit barns akademiske, atletisk, musikalsk eller kunstnerisk fortjeneste.

Størstedelen af finansielle bistand er behovet-baseret støtte. Dog i de seneste år, har fortjener støtte gjort et comeback som gymnasier (især private gymnasier) bruge gunstige merit hjælpepakker til at lokke de bedste og dygtigste studerende til deres universiteter, uanset deres finansielle behov. Dog tilgængeligheden af fordel støtten har tendens til at svinge fra år til år som gymnasier beslutte, hvor meget af deres donationer til at bruge, samt hvilke specifikke akademiske og somme programmer de vil målrette.

KILDER TIL FORDEL STØTTEN

Det bedste sted at lede efter fordel støtten er på gymnasier, dit barn ansøger til. Er college tilbyder ethvert tilskud eller stipendier til akademiske, atletisk, musikalsk eller andre evner? Hvis ja, hvad er ansøgningsproceduren? College guidebøger og individuelle college websteder kan give dig en idé om, hvor meget merit støtte (som en procentdel af en generel studerende samlet støttepakke) hvert kollegium har ydet i tidligere år.

Udover colleges, en bred vifte af private og offentlige virksomheder tilbyder foreninger og fonde merit stipendier og tilskud. Mange har specifikke støtteberettigelseskriterier. I fortiden, kan sigtning gennem mulighederne være en skræmmende opgave. Nu er der hjemmesider, hvor dit barn kan indtaste hans eller hendes baggrund, evner og interesser og modtage (gratis) en tilsvarende liste over potentielle stipendier. Så er det til dit barn til at opfylde de forskellige ansøgningsfrister. Men selv om denne avenue er bestemt værd at undersøge, sådan forskning (og efterfølgende arbejde for at fuldføre alle programmer) bør ikke komme på bekostning af forskning og ansøger om mere fælles behov-baseret finansiel støtte og/eller college fortjener støtte.