How to Build Wealth as a Couple – 10 Marriage Steps

Now you have the long awaited ring and charming partner, congrats! A great bulk of happiness wrapped to your doorstep…fun! fun!! fun!!!

No more single or alone, but completely together; to live, share and cope together, including managing finances…hahaha! So what next?

Building wealth as a couple, saving and investing money, facing finances and risk in marriage might be so simple, but difficult at onset.

Surely, the adage, “two heads are better than one” has a perfect role at this stage. And the quicker you both realize it, the soonest your financial capacity will boost. That is to say, “Two people must agree equally to make a financial priority and monitor it to see it work”

Okay! We are there. Get started on a path to build wealth for you and your special partner by following these 10 steps:

#1. Speak Money

Speak money as a couple 

As uncomfortable as they may be, money conversations are crucial — and the earlier you and your partner talk finances, the better. After all, arguments about money are a leading predictor of divorce.

Smart couples talk about money all the time. "When you work together on your finances, you can compound the results. When you don't, the same can be said for the mistakes you will invariably make."

You'll want to start by understanding the financial background of your partner, finding out how your partner feels about money, and what they consider to be its purpose in their life. This will allow you to understand how they make financial decisions.

Next, you can discuss the more concrete details, such as who is responsible for paying which bills or whether you want a joint account.

You shouldn't assume that both you and your partner are somehow automatically on the same page when it comes to the question of how you are going to organize your finances and who is going to be responsible for what. "If you haven't already done so, the two of you need to sit down together and specifically work all this out.”

Also read: Startup financial steps many Ignore

#2. Itemize goals

Think together and itemize goals

The first step to achieving anything is to figure out precisely what it is you're after. What do you and your partner want? It could be a vacation home, more wealth, or being able to travel the world together.

"Make your goals specific, detailed, and with a finish line," Bach writes. Next, write them down: "People who write down their financial goals get rich. It's a fact. Study after study has shown that writing down your goals makes it much more likely that you'll achieve them."

Finally, get started right away — within 48 hours. "By taking this sort of specific immediate action, your goal becomes even more real to me and thus even more exciting”. "It's this excitement that will ultimately create the lasting energy the two of you will need in order to see your goal through to reality."

Also read: How to build wealth from scratch

#3. Create a plan

Together, create plan and build wealth

"Failing to plan together is the same as planning to fail together". Simply going through the motions won't cut it — finishing rich requires a written financial plan to outline your budget and savings goals.

Step one is to understand where you're starting from: "Could you tell me your net worth? Do you know what your assets and liabilities and expenses are? Could you easily list on a piece of paper what investments you own, how much equity you have in your home, and on what and to whom you owe money?" If you couldn't come up with any answers, don't worry. That's normal.

Start by addressing those questions. Next, get organized by pulling together your financial records and setting up a new filing system. Once you're organized, don't stop there, "In order to stay on track from your starting point to your destination, you have to monitor your progress." This means revisiting your investments and general financial plan a couple times a year.
Also read: Ultimate guide to wealth and money building

#4. Review Spending

Review expenses starting with fashion

The simplest way to finish rich is to save more, which all begins with spending less. This is easier said than done. "There's no getting around it. Money is easy to waste". "It's especially easy to waste on the small stuff ... The challenge is that the small stuff adds up — and before you know it, you've cost yourself millions."

To draw awareness to how easy it is to spend, and to help curb overspending, he suggests a weeklong challenge: Track your expenses for seven days, writing down every expenditure. Spend as you normally would and don't drastically change your habits out of fear of what you may find.

After seven days of diligent recording, analyze your list together. "Start by sharing what you are going to start cutting out, not what you suggest your partner cut out."

The reason this simple concept is so important is that if you can get yourself to believe you can find an additional $10 a day to put away in a retirement account, you can begin to take advantage of the concept called the ‘miracle of compound interest’.
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#5. Save ahead of time

"If you and your partner are not currently putting 10% of your pretax income into a pretax retirement account, you are heading for trouble."

Paying yourself first is no revolutionary or glamorous concept, but it's critical to accumulating wealth over time.

If you're not comfortable making a 10% contribution right away, it's better to start small than not start at all. Once you've decided on a percentage to contribute, make it automatic. This way, you'll never even see the money and you'll learn to live without it.

"You'd be amazed how effortlessly you can learn to live on a little less". You can't spend what you don't have in your pocket."
Also read: How best to save for retirement

#6. Try emergency funds

Things don't always go as planned. People lose their jobs, businesses go up in flames, and breadwinners get sick. You'll want to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst by building an emergency fund.

"You and your partner should have a heart-to-heart talk about your spending, your ability to maintain your income stream if one or both of you was to lose your job, and what I call your 'sleep at night' factor". "This 'sleep at night' number is different for everyone — including partners. Almost invariably, one of you will require more of a financial security blanket than the other to be able to sleep well at night."

Bach suggests having a minimum of three months' worth of expenses. "You need to decide together what makes sense for the two of you as a couple," he says. "If you're in doubt about how much cash to keep in your security basket, err on the side of caution and save more, not less." Up to a point, that is — anything more than 24 months' worth of expenses saved is overkill, he notes.
Also read: How to build wealth by saving money to invest

#7. Dare to dream

Dream together and make it work

Dreaming is not just for kids. I challenges you and your partner to think big: "What do the two of you want to do that is totally fun, totally crazy, totally outrageous? Do you want to travel around the world? Go wine-tasting in Tuscany? Swim with the dolphins in Hawaii? Build your dream home with that dream kitchen?"

Every adult deserves to dream, but there's also a financial advantage to dreaming big. "Many people don't bother to change their spending habits or start saving simply because their future doesn't seem compelling enough to motivate them. But nothing creates leverage and motivation like a dream."

What's more, "people stop dreaming because they don't have the money it takes to transform their dreams into reality". Just as you secured your future by deciding to pay yourself first a fixed percentage of your income for your retirement basket, now you're going to fund your dreams by committing to pay yourself an additional fixed percentage of your income that will go into your dream basket."

The trick to building your dream basket is to contribute money on a regular basis. To ensure you won't skimp on savings, make it automatic. The amount you choose to save is completely up to you and your partner, but I suggest setting aside 3% of your after-tax income is accepted.

Also read: How to build wealth at a younger age

#8. Kill your debt

Kill your debt as a couple to build wealth

"Credit card debt can destroy a marriage". "I don't care how much two people may love each other, if one of them is constantly spending the couple into debt, I can promise you that eventually the relationship will fall apart. If both parties are running up debts, it will simply end that much sooner."

If it's your partner who has accumulated mounds of debt, encourage him or her to work on erasing those balances as soon as possible. While you're not technically responsible for debt they acquired prior to your marriage, it becomes a collective hindrance as your finances merge.

Also, don't wait to talk about credit scores until you're about to make a major purchase. You don't want there to be any unpleasant surprises when you and your partner go to a mortgage company to get pre-approved, for example, and you're rejected because one of you has terrible credit.

The earlier you cover the topic, the better. Start by checking your credit score, which you can do as often as you want through free sites like Credit Karma, Credit.com, or Credit Sesame.
Also read: How to manage debt of any size

#9. Save for kids

Save for kids together to build wealth

Kids are pricey. The USDA says the cost of raise a kid averages $245,000, and that doesn't include college expenses. So you see, its not even a mere issue.  

The best way to prepare for these expenses is to create a budget and start saving for wealth as early as possible. As soon as your kid is born, consider opening a savings account — a state-sponsored, tax-advantaged investment account — to cover the costs of college. These plans allow a parent to contribute up to $14,000 per year ($28,000 for a couple) for each of their children's college educations. It also allows anyone — a grandparent, godparent, or particularly generous neighbor — to contribute to the fund.

However, before you start tackling college, make sure you're setting aside enough for retirement. You shouldn't even consider putting aside money for your kids' college costs unless you are already putting at least 10% of your income into a pretax retirement account. Your security basket comes first. College funding comes second ... The greatest gift you can give your children is to ensure that you won't be a financial burden to them."
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#10. Save for unplanned dafts

Now, we all usually wish for the best of kids, graduate out of school in flying colours, get good jobs or create a flourishing business, yeah! Who wouldn’t dream of such? The blunt truth is, not all kids are as lucky as others, though, nobody wishes for that. So a smart couple should also plan ahead; while believing all kids to be excellent, you should also prepare for the worst. Keep some money to help support the weaker ones among the kids in the nearest future.
Also read: How to build wealth from blogging


To possibly enlighten others, kindly share your contributions and suggestions in the comment box, and do well to share to the reach of others in serious need. Thanks.

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