Partly as a result, economic friction is common among newly weds, experts say. Indeed, past surveys have found that more than half of divorced couples cited money problems as a significant factor in the split. The good news is that it's never too late to get your economic life together, says Kathleen Steep, a Kansas City based financial planner who heads Citibank Master Card and Visa's Money Matters for Newlyweds educational program. The keys are communication and compromise, says Stepp and others. Newlyweds need to sit down and open up their checkbooks, tax returns, bill statements and brokerage accounts to discuss what they have and what they want to achieve.
Many couples find their biggest money troubles come from having conflicting goals.
For example, one wants a retirement account while the other wants a boat. Open up your respective checkbooks and start tallying how much money you have coming in and where it is going out. Then figure out where you can economize. It's likely that your budget is significantly different now from what it was before the wedding, Stepp notes. Financial Prudence might suggest seeking out the assistance of a reliable financial planner.