Merging Finances: A Guide for the 2025 Bride & Groom
Merging finances with your partner is a significant step in building your life together, and as a 2025 bride or groom, it’s likely on your to-do list alongside wedding planning. Combining finances doesn’t just mean sharing a bank account—it’s about aligning your financial goals, strategies, and expectations. In this guide we will discuss some important tips to navigating this chapter.
1. Start with Open Communication
Before you dive into the fine print, have a candid conversation with your partner about money. Discuss your financial histories, including debts, savings strategies, spending habits, and relationship with money. We recorded a podcast episode with David Pearl on the importance of conducting open and honest conversations surrounding money with your partner. Understanding each other’s financial past and mindset creates a foundation of trust and helps prevent surprises later on.
2. Define Your Financial Goals Together
Marriage is a partnership, as is your financial journey. Sit down and outline your short-, medium- and long-term goals, like saving for a house, paying off student loans, retirement dreams, or building a travel fund. Aligning your priorities will make financial decision-making smoother.
3. Choose a Financial System That Works for You
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to merging finances or creating the perfect financial strategy overnight. Some couples choose to combine everything, while others prefer to maintain separate finances or a hybrid system where individual and joint accounts coexist. Through honest and open conversations, decide what works for your lifestyle and relationship dynamic.
4. Create a Joint Budget
Once you know how you’ll organize your finances, it’s time to discuss the creation a budget. Identify shared expenses— whether rent, utilities, groceries—and decide how you’ll split them. Budgeting as a team can help you stay on track with your goals and timely payments. Hold your partner accountable and encourage them to reach their personal and joint financial goals, and empowering their personal financial literacy.
5. Update Financial Accounts and Documents
Marriage often requires updating important documents and accounts. Tasks may include:
- Adding each other as beneficiaries to retirement accounts and/or insurance policies.
- Updating your name on financial documents, if applicable.
- Revisiting estate planning needs like wills or trusts, especially if your family grows with children.
In summary, merging finances is about partnership, trust, and planning. While the process may seem daunting, uncomfortable, or easily avoidable at first, it’s an opportunity to deepen your connection and build a solid financial framework for your future as a team. Though it may be difficult at times, approaching the process with openness and teamwork, you may find managing money together to be ab empowering part of your relationship. If you have any questions on navigating the merging of finances, email info@shermanwealth.com and we are happy to discuss.