Newlywed Money Management
Posted on October 15, 2008 by Him and tagged finances, goals, marriage, student_loan
In the last post, Her did a good job of listing the emergency/insurance financial aspects of being newlyweds. In addition to those tasks, we also have many money management issues that need to be worked out. They are as follows:
- With the very large student loan payment gift, we're now left with how we should tackle the remaining loans.
- We haven't contributed to any non-employee sponsored retirement plans this year. Maybe we should change that?
- What are we going to do with the cash we have saved?
- Since we're not saving for a wedding anymore, how should we divert the extra cash we have on hand?
- Taxes! We're definitely going to have to change our withholding and maybe have to take some last minute financial actions to avoid paying hefty taxes this year. I think I messed up my earlier estimate of our tax situation. We're also unsure about the large gift we did receive and its tax implications. We're definitely going to have to see a tax guy.
- What are our short (1 year), intermediate (5 year), and long term (10+ years) financial goals?
Ugh, lots to think about. We've already been answering some of these questions, but need to make some final decisions. I'll be posting about the details of each decision in the next few weeks.
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Brian | Oct 20, 2008
Gift tax is the responsibility of the giver, not the receiver. However, if the gift of $50,000 was from a couple, THEY could avoid most of the tax. You can exclude up to $12,000 (per person gifted to) a year from gift tax, so:
Giver husband to your husband: $12,000
Giver wife to your husband: $12,000
Giver husband to you: $12,000
Giver wife to you: $12,000
Total exempted from tax: $48,000, leaving only $2,000 for the gift tax. Congratulations on tying the knot!!
Tristan | Oct 21, 2008
I really like your blog. You guys should really try to post more, I enjoy reading your very personal stories instead of generalized ones at other blogs.
Aisha Smith | Oct 17, 2008
I am a finacial writer and have written for various financial related websites.I also provide personal opinion and comments on recent business news or corporate governance issues, such as earnings releases or trends in executive compensation. I have written various educational content on financial topics like credit repair, credit score, credit counseling and other credit related issues.
I quite like your post of money management for new weds.Our personal finance reflects the monetary decisions taken by an individual or family unit. It has been found that individuals or families get, make budget, save, and spend their monetary resources over certain period of time. For this they take into account various financial risks and future life events.What i think is that one needs to keep a check on their credit reports.
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