NO MORE Mortgage – Having the money talk with your partner.
Talking about money and having no more mortgage payments with your partner.
NO MORE Mortgage - Helping others for over a decade.
We all have parts of our lives or personalities that we would prefer to keep to ourselves. When you get married, your financial position is not one of these things. It is intimately tied to your future with your partner. The rest of your lives will be affected by how you come together to set financial goals. Money has perhaps one of the largest effects on a relationship, and is often the real root of various other problems, not to mention a leading cause of divorce. You need to take control of your money before it takes control of you. You need to be open if you want to wipe out your debt and have no more mortgage payments years ahead of time.
Don’t avoid discussing your finances and your future goals. Make this a regular thing you both discuss and participate in. Set a goal of when you would like to be debt free and have no more mortgage payments. Being open about your money may even open up other areas of your relationship that need discussion. And relief from the stress that comes from having no more mortgage or other debt will help you further focus on what matters most, your relationship.
It’s always hard to kickoff a new habit, but discussing personal finance concerns is a habit that needs to be developed. If you and your spouse didn’t talk about your financial position before you married, don’t wait any longer. Set a goal for the date you would like to be able to pay everything off and have no more mortgage payments. Work towards a retirement where you can enjoy being together and not having to worry about debt.
Here are some tips on good communication.
- Find a good time to talk about your financial situation in a relaxed environment. Make sure you sit down and talk about your finances regularly, before something becomes an issue. These brief, consistent conversations can help keep the two of you on the same page.
- Stay on topic. This conversation is when you need to focus on your finances, and not get caught up in another issue. (However, those should probably be discussed as well. You will make more progress if you stick to one matter at a time). If you make a goal to have no more mortgage payments, or other debt, earlier than it would normally take then you now have a goal to work towards together. Your success in achieving your goal comes as you work as a team.
- Understand that you may need to compromise. You could find that one of you is a natural born saver and the other has a habit of inordinate spending. Or maybe you are both spenders and wish the other would be a saver. Whatever your role is in the relationship, don’t assume that you’re right and the other is wrong. Budgeting and managing finances lucratively will take work on both of your parts and you will need to make decisions together. Retiring with no other debt and no more mortgage payments may not be easy to accomplish, but the rewards are great.
- If you want to achieve something you have to be honest with your spouse and with yourself, too. You both came from a unique background, with families that had their own financial values. You need to figure out what your financial values and goals are, and then incorporate them into a common financial plan. A plan to eliminate your debt and retire early with no more mortgage is a good place to start.
Like most habits worth developing, practice makes perfect. It can be tough to start the money conversation, but it gets simpler as you go along and just brings you closer. Once you start talking about your personal finances together, you’ll start setting, and later achieving, your goals together. Set a goal to retire early with no more mortgage or any other debt, and focus on achieving your goals.
Watch this short video of a NO MORE Mortgage adviser talking about working with clients.
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Filed under News, No More Mortgage by on Jul 15th, 2010. 
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