What I Married Into

During premarital counseling, Bird and I had to talk about our different money styles. And boy, are they different!  I mean, wouldn’t it have been nice if we got married and she was like, surprise, I have a personal finance blog too! Haha.

Let’s just say that in counseling we determined that because I was so enthused about money and she was so…not enthused…that we agreed to talk about money only once a month.  If I had my way it would be almost every day and if she had hers, it would probably be once a year.  She’s just not that into it.

A few weeks ago we sat down and had that first financial meeting.  Yes, we’ve been married over a month now (time flies).  Anywho, I came with my google docs and spreadsheets and she came with a notecard with scribbles on it.  But I was happy, because that was progress.  I know she struggled to find passwords and account user names, etc., so I was proud of her.  Basically, for this meeting I just wanted to get a feel of what exactly she had and where it all was.  And don’t worry, I knew the basics before we got married.  I knew she wasn’t in crazy debt or anything, I just didn’t know exact amounts of her savings and investings (and she didn’t either!)  Another reason for the meeting was for her to see my accounts and for her to know where they were and how to access them.  Finally, we wanted to discuss what we were going to do moving forward.  How would we handle budgeting ?  Would we be consolidating accounts, moving to joint, etc.?

So here is a list of our accounts as of that first meeting:

HIS

- Credit Union Checking Account
- ING Saving Account
- Fidelity Investment Account
- Zecco Investment Account
- Vanguard Investment Account
- Prosper Investment Account
- Fidelity Roth IRA
- Former Employer 401k
- Current Employer 401k
- Current Employer Stock Purchase Plan
- One Student Loan

HERS

- US Bank Checking Account
- ING Savings Account
- Edward Jones Investment Account (Her Grandma set up for her – no idea what’s in it)
- Former Employer 401k
- Current Employer 401k
- Current Employer Stock Purchase Plan (not sure on amount)
- One Student Loan

So this was my first look into my new wife’s finances and I was pleasantly surprised.   No credit card debt (which I knew), less student loan debt than I had thought, more savings than I had thought.  I’m so proud of her.

Here’s our plan for now: 

1. I want Bird to find out how to get access to that account she shares with her Grandma and find out what’s in it.  Just because I’m anal and want a complete picture of our finances.  I think we’re talking 4 digit thousands here, by the wya, it’s not like her grandma set aside millions for her.  Same goes for finding out how much is in her ESPP at work.  Once we find out about the Grandma account, we will probably withdraw and move it to our ING account or invest it in the Vanguard account which is going to be our main investing account moving forward.
2. Once she gets her name changed and all that fun paperwork done, we will set up a joint checking account.  That will be our primary account for most expenses.  We will keep our personal checking accounts and fund those through the joint account for personal spending money every month.
3. We have already combined the ING savings accounts and made one savings account with the following subaccounts:  Emergency Fund, General Savings, Travel Fund, House Downpayment, Car Replacement.
4. Eventually, I would like to move my Fidelity and Zecco accounts over to Vanguard just to cut down on the number of accounts we have to deal with.  Which is another reason we will be getting rid of the Edward Jones account.
5. At some point I may think about consolidating my 401ks but for now I am happy with where they are at.

We are also working on developing a family budget which is a first for both of us.  I’ll post about that in the near future.