When you are single, you are in charge of your money and how it gets spent. You may have monthly expenses but can use the rest for your pleasures. This care-free spending is fun, but you may also save and invest some of it to better your life and secure your future goals.

Entering into a marriage changes all that because what once was one is now a fusing of two. There will be added income into the family unit, and while this may seem like a windfall, different views of how to handle money may clash and cause a financial rift. To prevent the chasm of cash conflict, you must be on the same page with your spending, savings and assets.

Whether you have small incomes combining or large assets that merge, understanding how to manage your pooled cash flow should be the priority in every marriage to help feed its success.

Here is a practical guideline for how to manage money after marriage.

Family Office

Some marriages bring together those of high net worth, or spouses work together to accumulate wealth. This vast income and array of assets is not only hard to manage but vital to monitor to keep it intact and build its value over time. Rich spouses typically are hard and smart workers, dedicating lots of hours to financial growth, and this leaves little time and skill set to properly manage it, so that is when you should consider a family office.

What is a family office?

Family offices are wealth management advisory firms for high-net-worth individuals and families. They serve to take care of a broad spectrum of financial services and are responsible for maintaining wealth and educating the next generation on handling their assets. Among the activities and responsibilities of a family office are:

• Budgeting
• Financial planning
• Investment management
• Insurance needs
• Tax service
• Charitable giving
• Wealth transfer planning

Benefits of family offices

A family office is personal and tailored to the family unit involved. A married couple takes the burden of financial matters off their shoulders and works exclusively with them. They are also private and use intimate discretion with all matters for their clients.

Their ultimate goal is to protect the current assets and create additional prosperity with a goal of infinity so the legacy of the marital finances is intact for the next generation and beyond.

Decide on your mutual financial entanglement

Marriage usually brings two incomes together, and along with shared expenses come shared financial goals. In a marriage, there are three possible financial arrangement options:

• Each partner maintains a separate accounts
• Keep separate bank accounts but merge money halfway
• Combine all money coming into one bank account for all financial matters

Option 1

This option is a separate financial arrangement where you have a fair distribution of the expenses. This is much like living as roommates as you handle your money and don’t have to answer for anything you spend it on. As long as you have your share to contribute, you are good to go. Beyond the bills, you both may want to contribute to savings and investing for the future.

Option 2

Another option has you maintaining a separate bank account but contributing to a joint account as well. This pools the family money for bill payments and investing and has you working together on household finances while still having some personal money to do with what you want.

Option 3

The third option fully commits to the family unit as it is one entity. There is no “your money” and “my money” but rather just “our money.” All earned income goes into a joint account, and expenses are paid, with the remaining allotted for savings, investing and general spending. This is a pure sense of unity and partnership with no issues of who earns or has more money to spend. The family unit has all the money with which to operate.

What works for you should be decided before the marriage starts so everyone is on the same page. Remember, your old life is no more, so the top priority should be the financial well-being of the marriage and family unit.

Discuss lifestyle choices and financial goals

As mentioned above, a marriage is a coming together to form a solid unit. While you both may have different goals before the marriage, they must be merged to point in a new, shared direction.

Spend time discussing what you want your marriage to look like about spending and saving. Marriage is about compromise, and when it comes to managing money, hash it out so both of you know where the money is put and what can be spent on what. Remember that the income must match your lifestyle because you don’t want to go into debt.

On the other side is how much you can commit to savings and investing to set yourself up for the future. This financial balancing act is a team effort, so refer to it often and make smart choices.