3 Financial changes to expect after marriage

After getting engaged, you and your soon-to-be spouse are over the moon. It’s a beautiful time, where you plan your wedding and life together. As incongruent as it may seem, it’s also the ideal time to discuss your joint finances.

We have a look at three important topics that you should work through with your partner before tying the knot.

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Lizl Budhram, who’s the advice and product strategy manager at Old Mutual Personal Finance, says that the financial changes that occur after getting married are different for each couple.

This is because every couple manages their finances in their own way. Some pool their income and expenses, while others prefer to keep their budgets and finances separate.

Financial questions every married couple should discuss 

However, Budhram believes that the following aspects will impact all married couples, and they should be discussed sooner rather than later.

1. The impact of your marital regime

“The marital regime needs to be considered and decided on before getting married. This will determine the legal ownership of the assets and liabilities of the spouses,” says Budhram.

She explains that there are three kinds of marital regime, as follows.

• You can get married in community of property – in other words, without an antenuptial contract. Under this regime, all assets and debts automatically belong to both spouses equally.
• You can get married out of community of property, where each spouse independently owns their assets and liabilities.
• You can get married with the accrual system, where assets accumulated before the marriage will be owned separately, and anything accumulated during the marriage will be shared.

2. Your will, estate, and life cover

Budhram says that spouses usually share household expenses and they often purchase property or other assets together, regardless of marital regime. For example, if you are married out of community of property, you may still decide to jointly sign for a home loan.

“This means there will be a financial impact on the surviving spouse when one spouse passes away. Debt often needs to be repaid at the time of death, and there are expenses – such as estate duty and executor’s fees – which will need to be paid,” says Budhram.

She explains that it’s important that the will is structured appropriately and that it takes the spouse into account. There should also be sufficient money in the estate to cover expenses and any other financial requirements or support that the surviving spouse will need.

3. Retirement planning as a couple

Budhram says that it’s important to align your retirement plan and goals with your spouse. She recommends sitting down and answering the following questions together:

• When do we want to retire?
• How much money will be required in retirement?
• Where will we live?
• Who will be saving how much for retirement?

“Retirement may seem like a distant reality, especially if you’re newlyweds. However, it’s important to have this conversation early on, as alignment becomes more difficult as your retirement approaches,” says Budhram.

In addition to a retirement fund, you could potentially benefit from a Tax Free Savings Account.