Marriage and Money

You and your spouse may have differing attitudes towards money, and different financial habits. An honest, detailed conversation about your current financial situation, including debts and other obligations, as well as income and additional financial resources, is step one towards building financial stability together. Now that you’ll be combining at least some of your assets and taking on some legal responsibility for each other’s finances, it’s time to put everything on the table. Step two is discussing your individual financial goals and the goals that are important to both of you.

Ideally, you should read this brochure, Marriage, and Money, before your wedding day.  However, if that's not the case, it's still important to sit down and discuss the main issues on how you will move forward to build financial stability together.   

Staring Your Financial Future

When you start a new job, learning the culture of your new workplace, not to mention getting up to speed on the work you’ll be doing, can be intimidating. You will also be getting a paycheck and will need to make decisions about how to spend it.  

This helpful guide provides an overview of the financial decisions that are part of starting a new job. Included is essential information on choosing benefits and using the power of your paycheck, as well as guidelines for making informed investing choices.

Job Dislocation – How to Make Smart Financial Choices After a Job Loss

You Can Manage Your Finances You may not be able to control if or when your company closes a plant or lays off workers—but you can take steps to manage the financial impact.

Start Here

Basics of Savings and Investing

When investing, you use financial instruments to grow your money for long term goals such as retirement. Investing products allow you to gain a profit through interest, dividends, and/or increase in value, but your principal is at risk of loss. Each type of investment carries a certain level of risk. Understand how the investment works and if it's right for your age, investment objectives, and risk tolerance.

Before you even think about investing, it is recommended to maintain a "rainy day fund," an emergency fund with money that is liquid (easily accessible) and the principal is not at risk. Read more about getting started on the path to saving and investing.

Financial Empowerment for Women

Many women face money challenges during their lifetime— marriage, divorce, job loss, retirement, sending kids off to college, and other changes to their own or their family’s financial circumstances.  And generally speaking, a woman's longevity presents another challenge of not outliving her nest egg. Knowing how to prepare for these life transitions and challenges is important. 

• Check out wiserwomen.org from the nonprofit Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement ("WISER"), especially its investment 101 tutorial.
• Websites that offer software to track spending and set up budgets.
• Check your credit score. You can check your credit report with the three credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax—for free once a year. See more information at USA.gov regarding credit reports and scores.

For important tips for women about their retirement savings, read this handy resource by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Smart Saving for College: Better Buy Degrees Guide

529 Plan and Other College Saving Options: This guide, published by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), discusses your options to saving and investing wisely for college. Some important topics include:

• College Costs are Rising--Are You Keeping Pace?
• Loans--Know the Cost
• Education Benefits for Service members--Post 9/11 GI Bill
• College Saving While Saving Taxes
• Tips for Choosing College Savings Options