The “Money Talk” All Couples Should Have Before Marriage

Whether you’re moving on to the next stage of your relationship, or planning a wedding, it is sure that you both will be the owners of all post-wedding properties including land, home, car and so on.

Nonetheless, have you cleared cut with your partner about your both pre-wedding properties? If those properties come with loans, will you accept to settle or join monthly installment together? And will they become your both post-wedding properties?

To be fair, you should negotiate and decide due to your actual situation before turning to marriage life. Remember you will live and build the rest of your whole life together.

Wife needs to hold both her own and husband’s income. Not really! Time moves, people change, and lifestyle also modernises. It is not important to follow this old norm if you both are not in the same mindset. Do not force yourself to accept this culture or force your partner to follow you.

More and more Cambodian families doesn’t stick with this old-styled income management. Both men and women have equal rights and have their own income. As long as you know your family income flow and have proper family income development, it doesn’t matter on who should exclusively hold the total income. 

Personal loans and credit card debt - marrying your partner can mean marrying their debt as well. Now is a good time to discuss what debts you and your partner have and work out a plan to manage them. 

Be honest and uncover yourself if you love and trust each other. Talk about each other's spending habits too, and see if there's anything that can be improved for your new life together.

Talk about your income and the things you want to save for, such as children, furthering your education or yearly vacations. You can also talk about how to best invest for your future such as doing businesses, buying assets and more.  And do not discuss and be well-prepared on any possible risks for marriage life.

Having this conversation can help you and your partner make a savings plan that works for all of your goals. 

You share much more when you're married, and that can include bank accounts. Talk to your partner about whether you'll set up a joint account and how much money you both should contribute into the account. 

If you decide to set up a joint account, discuss what type of account is best for your future. You can opt for a joint Saving Account and Fixed Deposit Account that offers interest rate with a secured and reliable bank, and you can fall back on should the need arise.

Your jobs, businesses and your joint finances go hand-in-hand. Talk about plans and any changes (such as a career promotion, business upgrade or resident relocation) that might come up in the future. These will affect your income, expenses and spending habits. 

This article is brought to you by CIMB Bank as part of our ongoing efforts to raise the level of financial literacy among Cambodians. Financial knowledge and understanding are key to making well-informed and meaningful financial decisions that will improve our well-being. This, in turn, achieves CIMB Bank’s purpose of advancing customers and society.