Investing As A Team
_The wedding bells have stopped ringing and the gifts have stopped pouring in, but that doesn’t mean the honeymoon is over! You and your spouse have just entered into one of the most lucrative investing opportunities out there – marriage.
Some may argue that money is the bane of their marriage and if your finances are not put in order from the beginning that can certainly end up being true. After all, everyone has unique philosophies on money. Some people are spenders, others are savers and others think credit cards are made out of paper.
The trick is to make sure you and your spouse are on the same page from the beginning, so you can take care of the financial advantages marriage offers.
So, what are all these advantages?
Personal Exemptions
Remember when you’re filling out tax forms and you see all those confusing boxes where you have to say whether or not you are exempt and there’s only a certain number that you can choose and you never know which one to check because it’s so gosh darn confusing? Aughh! Well, just take a deep breath… and invest in an account.
But in all seriousness, now you know that you’re married, you can claim an exemption for both you and your husband, even if only one of you has a job.
Overall Break
Once again bringing up that fun time when you file… remember that box where you check single or married? Well, not to make it sound super simplistic, but the overall gist is this - when you file as married, you will get a higher standard deduction on your earnings.
Again, this little perk has nothing to do with whether or not there are two incomes on the table. This is simply a bonus that happens thanks to the fact that you and your loved one said “I do.”
Dual IRA
When you are single, you can only invest in one IRA account, obviously. Did you know that once you are married, you are allowed to place funds into two IRA accounts, even if you are living in a single income home? That’s a huge opportunity to cut your pre-tax dollars and invest in your future through smart saving.
Combined Credit
When you were in college, your parents may have talked you out of grabbing that easy to obtain credit card. Although they may have done you a service in keeping you out of credit card debt, they also did you a disservice establishing your credit history. One of the things companies look at when establishing this history is how long you’ve had any sort of financial responsibility.
If you don’t have a credit history and it’s time to make a huge purchase like a house, you could be up a river. Unless… you got married and your husband has an established credit history. Big purchases, here you come!
Combined Investments
That said, now that you have the capability to share credit responsibility, you also have the opportunity to invest in things your single income may not have afforded you. Thanks to the tax breaks that also come with owning a home, making co-purchases like these can put you on the road to investment success.
Marriage is a business. Be sure to take advantage of all the business and financial opportunities it affords you. Most important, always remember to invest in the reason you got married in the first place - your love.
Some may argue that money is the bane of their marriage and if your finances are not put in order from the beginning that can certainly end up being true. After all, everyone has unique philosophies on money. Some people are spenders, others are savers and others think credit cards are made out of paper.
The trick is to make sure you and your spouse are on the same page from the beginning, so you can take care of the financial advantages marriage offers.
So, what are all these advantages?
Personal Exemptions
Remember when you’re filling out tax forms and you see all those confusing boxes where you have to say whether or not you are exempt and there’s only a certain number that you can choose and you never know which one to check because it’s so gosh darn confusing? Aughh! Well, just take a deep breath… and invest in an account.
But in all seriousness, now you know that you’re married, you can claim an exemption for both you and your husband, even if only one of you has a job.
Overall Break
Once again bringing up that fun time when you file… remember that box where you check single or married? Well, not to make it sound super simplistic, but the overall gist is this - when you file as married, you will get a higher standard deduction on your earnings.
Again, this little perk has nothing to do with whether or not there are two incomes on the table. This is simply a bonus that happens thanks to the fact that you and your loved one said “I do.”
Dual IRA
When you are single, you can only invest in one IRA account, obviously. Did you know that once you are married, you are allowed to place funds into two IRA accounts, even if you are living in a single income home? That’s a huge opportunity to cut your pre-tax dollars and invest in your future through smart saving.
Combined Credit
When you were in college, your parents may have talked you out of grabbing that easy to obtain credit card. Although they may have done you a service in keeping you out of credit card debt, they also did you a disservice establishing your credit history. One of the things companies look at when establishing this history is how long you’ve had any sort of financial responsibility.
If you don’t have a credit history and it’s time to make a huge purchase like a house, you could be up a river. Unless… you got married and your husband has an established credit history. Big purchases, here you come!
Combined Investments
That said, now that you have the capability to share credit responsibility, you also have the opportunity to invest in things your single income may not have afforded you. Thanks to the tax breaks that also come with owning a home, making co-purchases like these can put you on the road to investment success.
Marriage is a business. Be sure to take advantage of all the business and financial opportunities it affords you. Most important, always remember to invest in the reason you got married in the first place - your love.