Realise your financial dreams with your spouse

What happens to an organisation where the purchase department functions totally independent and without any understanding with the finance department?

Purchase department may overspend; finance department will lose control; misunderstanding and conflicts between both the departments; the organisation's growth gets destroyed.

Traditionally, married couples in most Indian families do not manage personal finance together. It is only one person who manages the personal finance of the whole family. In most of the cases it is the male partners and in a few cases the female partners mange personal finance.

Only very recently we have been seeing the trend of both the partners managing their personal finance together.

Like in the above-mentioned organisation, if only one partner handles personal finance, then there could be a lot of mismatch between you and your partner in saving and spending pattern. This will lead to misunderstanding and marital stress.

Instead of having independent saving and spending plan, having an interdependent plan will help you in managing your money effectively and achieving your financial goals.

You go out for dinner together. You go to the movie together. Why don't you manage your personal finance together? This will build financial compatibility for you and your spouse. Both of you can have a better relationship and understanding with each other.

Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and certified financial planner, is founder & director of Holistic Investment Planners (P) Ltd (http://holisticinvestment.in).

You may wonder why both the partners should manage personal finance. Here are some points to ponder over:

In case of emergency

Suppose the partner, who is managing personal finance, meets with an accident and needs to be hospitalised for a month or so, then how will the spouse run the show?

Before such an accident, if the partner has missed his wallet, which has all his credit and debit cards, then how does the spouse block those cards before it is misused? Where does she or he find that information?

In case of an emergency, nothing will help except the practice of managing your money together.

When you alone prepare the budget for your family, then you can't expect your spouse to spend according to the budget. If you prepare the budget along with your spouse, he or she will come forward to help you in saving more.

You just try this. Involve your spouse in budgeting and monitoring your household spending. You will see the spending coming down day-by-day and both of you will start spending consciously.

Combined financial goals

It is better to identify the goals of your spouse as well as yours and check if any of your goals are contradictory to the goal of your spouse?

You may want to retire and settle in the same city that you work in. But your spouse may want to settle in the native place.

You may plan to buy a farmhouse to spend your post-retirement days. But your spouse may be interested in spending her/his leisure at different places like hill stations and other tourism places. For this goal a timeshare slot with a resort provider may be suitable.

So identifying and settling your difference of opinion regarding the financial goals at the blueprint level is much easier, cheaper and sensible, instead of doing it at the execution level.

There are some barriers or objections in involving spouses in managing personal finance. But that too can be worked around. Here's how to overcome that...

My spouse does not have time for these things

My spouse is not having enough time to look at these things. 'No time' is a false excuse. If it is one of your priorities, then definitely you will somehow find time. Only thing is you have not realised it as one of your priorities. Personal finance is definitely a priority item for each and every family because it is going to secure your future.

My spouse is not interested

My spouse is not interested in personal finance. Everyone is interested in their own future and their kids' future. So logically everyone needs to be interested in personal finance. You need to motivate your spouse and make her/him understand, how personal finance management is important in achieving your combined life goals.

My spouse does not understand matters financial

My spouse doesn't know about personal finance. Nobody's an expert in money management from one's birth. We all learned it here. So why don't you educate him/her on personal finance. Money management is an important life skill. Everyone should know. If you want your kids to manage money better and wiser why don't you educate your spouse first?

Overcoming the barriers in getting your spouse involved in personal finance management and getting her/him involved will be a life-transforming exercise.  Don't miss it. Together you will be able to achieve your life goals easier and sooner.