Financial Planning After Marriage – Things to do

Getting a job, then marriage, child birth, growing your child, and then finally moving towards retirement; this is the most important part of your life. To ensure smooth life and become financially secured we need smart financial planning. There are many changes required and listed below is the after marriage financial planning checklist for newly married couple:

Documentation Changes or Name Change After Marriage

In many Indian families there is a ritual of changing women’s last name (surname) after marriage. If this applies to you then the first thing women should do post marriage is changing last name on all financial records. Change should also be made in the old address and must be replaced with the new one i.e. the place where you would be staying after marriage.

Another important change to be made is changing the nominee. If you have kept your parents as a nominee in insurance policies, bank accounts etc. and you now want to replace that with your partners name then this should also be updated.

Changes in Joint Account After Marriage

Always have a joint account in the name of yourself and your partner whether your partner is working or not. And in this account always deposit small amount of money from both’s salary. And make use of this account for monthly utility bills, investments, insurance, buying property etc. Apart from this couples should be having separate bank accounts as well and this account should be used for day to day expenses such as shopping, travelling etc.

Emergency Fund

In such an uncertain market, couples should always keep themselves ready for job loss and financial problems arising after marriage. Having saved sufficient money for such an emergency comes to your rescue in such a scenario. Adding to this, couples should always keep aside money which would last for 6 months which can be used for loan payment and normal day to day expenses. If couple is working then three months money is also sufficient.

Investing in Public Provident Fund

If you are not a risk taker then investing money in PPF is the best financial aid after marriage. There are many safe investments offering high returns in India but still PPF is highly recommended for both husband and wife who are not risk takers. In PPF person has to invest for 15 years, minimum yearly deposit is INR 500 and maximum is INR 1 Lac and interest offered is 8.7% and there is not taxable as per section 80 C.

Investing in Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)

Post marriage financial checklist also includes investments in SIP.  Long term planners always need big fund. Working couple should always keep 8-10% of their earnings aside and use it for investing in SIP or directly in the share market. Investing in SIP through mutual fund is always recommended. However if couple is young they can invest more in equities as compared to SIP. Invest small part in balanced funds or debt. As you grow older shift from equities to balanced funds or debt.

Term Insurance

If young couple has not purchase insurance then this is the first thing they should do since premiums are less and coverage is more. All your insurance needs are solved by term insurance. If both are working then you should buy term insurance. Normal rule on how much term insurance to buy is 8-10% of your current gross annual income. To further save money on term insurance, buy it online as it is little cheaper. Here are some term insurance you can buy:

LIC – eterm- 8202
HDFC -Life Click to Protect-6741
ICICI Prudential – Eye Care II- 9470
SBI Life eShield – 7220
Aviva Life – 4635

Keeping above points in mind, couple can avoid financial problems after marriage by careful and systematic planning which is a key for a happy future.