February 2012
February 6, 2012
Premarital Financial Counseling Louisiana
Premarital Financial Counseling whether in Louisiana or another state, should be required. Within the marriage industry it is known that premarital counseling reduces the risk of divorce by 30%. Can you imagine how that number would increase if it included finances! Finances is one of the top reasons for divorce; yet many couples are not having this crucial discussion until they are dealing with money issues so strong that they are headed towards divorce. The time to discuss finances is prior to getting married during the engagement. What each person needs to deal with is who they are as an individual when it comes to money? How did they handle money on their own? Would their financial problem skills say they are ready for marriage or would it make your bride think you should wait a while before getting married. Think about it, would your financial picture say to your bride or groom that you deserve to enter into a marriage and have a joint bank account or even get a credit card together. When you ask yourself that question you may decide not to be so quick to say you should have joint accounts after you say "I Do". If it premarital financial counseling were required, it may even save some couples from going down the aisle because couples would be REQUIRED to also share their credit reports. Oh yea, I know that is entirely another post on should they share their reports. Couples should get premarital financial counseling so that they know how to be good financial problem solvers and work together as a team. Financial compatibility is important. Granted you will have some differences and that works as long as you know how to make those differences work for the benefit of your marriage.
February 5, 2012
Premarital Financial Planning: Should it happen before the wedding?
When I was talking with Erika and Robin on Cocktails N Convo they asked me about premarital financial planning and what I thought. I shared with them how I advise couples to establish their individual budgets prior to the wedding budget. The benefit to doing financial planning prior to the wedding budget is three fold: (1) Both the bride and groom are able to see what existing financial obligations each one of them have that may affect their wedding planning budget. (2) The engaged couple will know realistically what they can plan for a wedding budget before they even ask their parents. (3) Knowing what their household budget is may even give them the opportunity to delay or postpone the wedding if necessary and pay off some of their financial obligations. Have a premarital financial plan allows a couple to alleviate unnecessary stress and strain when it comes to money and preparing for a wedding. The wedding is supposed to be a fun time that is the beginning of a lifelong commitment to each other. When done properly, engaged couples can have the wedding of their dreams (not mom or dad, or what the media says) do it in a way that they both can agree on and not have the first few years of their marriage be strapped with financial obligations that are tied to the wedding.
February 4, 2012
Premarital Financial Counseling Atlanta
Question for Premarital Financial Counseling Atlanta: Is there a benefit to have premarital financial counseling with a third person? Absolutely. Premarital financial counseling can bring up some emotions that neither the bride or groom are prepared for; yet with a third person providing counseling it can help them work through the difficult area of revealing financial behavior and background that the other person may not like. Premarital financial counseling is just the place to have these discussion so that couples learn to work together and through this "taboo" topic in order for their marriage to begin on solid footing when it comes to money. Sure each session may not be all sugar and spice; however it will give the engaged couple the room to learn about each other on another level when it comes to money. This is the time they should be able to determine whether they accept each other's behavior and work together as they prepare to enter into a commitment of marriage until death do they part. I didn't say until "Debt do they part". Engaged couples need to recognize that during the engagement they are literally get a trial run regarding money management, communication and whether or not they are marrying a person that is solutino oriented or victim oriented. If you are in the Atlanta area and are seeking a premarital financial counselor, you may contact Dr. Wagner through this site by going to the Financial Counseling page and securing your sessions.
February 3, 2012
Premarital Financial Counseling: Should a person whose not married provide Premarital Financial Counseling?
This premarital financial counseling question came in behind the scenes and I couldn't wait to address it. Question is: "Should a person who is not married provide premarital financial counseling"? There's several factors that must be looked at: (1) Has the person been married before? If so and they are no longer married, what is the reason for their divorce. You need to ensure that the person you are seeking counsel from is not still dealing with the stress or damage of a marriage gone bad; especially if the marriage ended because of money. The counselor could very do more damage than good because they are biased based on their experience instead of remaining neutral and listening to who you are and advising you on what you should do. (2) If the person has never been married before, they may not know how to address establishing mutual and individual financial goals, how to decide who should manage the money and why, as well as how to handle debt that is brought into the marriage. They are very limited on being able to understand specific situations that occur within marriage; how to work as a team in order to solve them. (3) A person who is single could also be in a state of misery and seek to provide you information that is not even valid in order for you to be in the same state that you are. We've all heard the saying "Misery loves company". Be very careful when you are seeking any type of counseling. I am a strong advocate that you do your research. You can google anyone's name anymore and find out good or bad about them. When it comes to choosing a counselor, if they provide an initial counseling session at no charge, take it to see if they are a good fit for you. Do your homework so that you do not lose on your investment.
