Being financially relationship ready can do wonders for your confidence and believe it or not can boost your sex appeal. So the big question is, are you ready to do the Financy test?
It may sound cynical to the true romantics among us, but less money baggage and hang ups about money and your income when you start a relationship, can certainly lift your self esteem and obviously enhance the look of your wardrobe, hair, makeup and second wardrobe.
So what determines if you are financially relationship ready? Here’s our checklist:
• Are you in control of your money? Do you make the financial decisions?
• Do you always open and review your own bills and financial statements and are you accountable to them?
• Is your income sufficient enough to enable you to save and pay down your debts/investments?
• Do you have and understand your own assets? This might be a car, superannuation, a property or even smaller items such as furniture.
• Do you have a good understanding of any debts, including credit cards?
• And are you financially organised? This might involve knowing how to budget, and understanding what money is coming in and going out.
If you have all of the above taken care of, you should be at a point where you can enter a relationship without feeling financially dependent on your partner.
If you’re not financially relationship ready, then you have a bit of work to do but relax because it is all very doable.
The next step to deciding if you are financially relationship ready is to be clear about how you feel right now about your money and what you want your money relationship to look like once you are in a partnership.
Most financial advisers recommend keeping your own bank account, rather than opting for a joint account.
Yes it may save you on bank fees but you may find yourself having to ask for permission to spend or you may find yourself scrutinising what your partner might be spending – that’s not healthy and it’s not fair to him or her.
You also want to ask you yourself what are your boundaries. Such as what will you do if you partner suddenly wants to control your spending. At what point will you step in and say, “No I don’t think so mate!”
Also, another thing for women to think about is having children and your superannuation.
Taking time off work, although very rewarding with kids, will most likely have a short-term impact on your pay, your super and affect your financial independence.
So it’s a great idea to have a very upfront conversation with your partner early on in a relationship to make sure that you are in agreement with how you plan to tackle matters that can and do get complicated.
