Studies and Experts Recommend Putting Personal Finances in Order First, Before Making Marriage Plans
Getting engaged feels like one step closer to seventh heaven; but you can’t say it really is if you and your betrothed are financially hard up.. The problem is not the wedding per se, because engaged couples can always do with a simple civil wedding if tying the knot is the only issue.
Marriage after all is more than just changing status, it is actually a whole new life with someone who thinks the world of you. Yet what if there are things a betroth needs to know regarding an intended spouse’s true financial conditions? Like some student loan that is still hounding a partner and his or her present earnings; or a heap of credit card debts that has been saddling one’s personal finances since time immemorial.
Even if a set of parents or both sets of parents are extending offers of shouldering the wedding spend, problems regarding money does not end there. In fact you are likely to get into bigger financial woes. What if your spouse-to-be has plans of buying a house and of having lots of children? That being the case, you cannot just let your fiance’ or fiancee make plans without him or her knowing that you still have personal obligations to settle.
If in learning about your real financial status he breaks up with you, there is no reason to bawl over the breakup because it means your future marriage would have been doomed from the very start. If he says it is okay, and that the two of you will find a way to work it out, it means he truly loves you no matter what.
However, it will not be wise to readily agree to push through with wedding plans. In these days of economic uncertainty, happily ever after has greater chances of happening if both parties to a marriage are financially stable.
Putting Marriage Plans on Hold is Better
According to Suntrust Bank, their studies about marital relationships revealed that financial problem is a leading cause of marriage breakups. Thirty-five percent (35%) of those who participated in the bank’s survey specifically identified money as the primary cause of troubles between them and their partner. Of the divorcees surveyed, fifty-nine percent (59%) admitted that financial setbacks were major contributors to the breakdown of their marriage.
In a separate study conducted by leading credit report provider Experian, twenty percent (20 %) of those surveyed gave confirmation that financial discord posed as a significant factor in their divorce.
Even financial experts recommend for engaged couples to sort out their personal financial obligations first before taking the plunge. Most millennials are actually making plans to reach financial goals first as their initial step in planning a wedding. Peter Walzer, President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) commented that they are no longer seeing couples aged 20 or thereabouts getting married. Instead, they are seeing 30-something couples tying the knot but with some, still finding it difficult to stay married.