It is wedding season once again! We are on for months of hearing wedding bells and seeing dashing gowns, flowers, and themes. Although it may be different depending on which state you are, typically it is May and June.
When we hear about weddings, we often think about love. Well, that’s what it is supposed to be – about love! But did you know that aside from the emotional benefits marriage has to offer, it also involves financial benefits which most of us don’t admit to being interested in? And If you are planning on getting married soon, you might as well know all the benefits you can get from it.
What Are The Financial Benefits Of Marriage?
Fewer Payables
When you are living alone, you will have to pay the bills on your own and buy and use appliances by yourself. When you get married, you will have someone to share them with. You will share the mortgage, utility bills, and all the furniture in the house. You do not have to bear the burden all by yourself because you will have a partner to help you out with everything.
Talk to your partner about your values and what they mean. Talk about your insecurities and anxieties about money. This process will help you to have compassion and understanding for your partner and will likely prevent or mitigate some of the financial distress in your relationship. — Mieke Rivka Sidorsky, LCSW-C
Faster Loan Approvals
When you and your spouse are both employed or earning income monthly, you will be able to qualify for a more considerable amount of loan which can also mean you have a higher chance of getting approved for larger purchases like a house, car, expensive appliances and such.
HealthCare Benefits
When both of you and your partner are both employed, you can use each other’s employer health care benefits, whichever offers better, not to mention health care benefit becomes cheaper when your health insurances are combined compared to individual healthcare insurance.
Life Insurance Benefits
Although it is unfortunate to talk about life insurances, it is one of the leading benefits of marriage. It is easier to determine your beneficiary and vice versa. Your spouse’s or your policy will then be tax-free before being collected by the recipient.
Keep your financial values foremost and refer back to them whenever you make a decision to ensure you are acting in alignment with your priorities. — Sarah E. Clark, LMFT, LMHC, CVRT
Social Security Benefits
Social Security is a big help when the time comes. When you are at least 62 years of age, you can be eligible to receive half of your spouse’s Social Security benefit, and if you also have an account of your own, you can get whichever is higher. There is also what we call the Social Security survivor benefits which allow the spouse to obtain financial assistance if his spouse dies.
Marriage is not all about physical and emotional stability. It also involves financial security. It is after all the purpose of finding a better half – to have someone to share life with which includes every aspect of it. Marriage gives us someone to divide assets and liabilities as well as to provide us with a better and more comfortable time.
Probably at the top of the list of skills that financially stable families report is that the adults in the family have generally talked about, negotiated, planned, and set up a financial process with shared, open values. The meaning and importance of work, child bearing and care, and the meaning of investments, property, education, vacations, entertainment, and saving have been discussed and reached a generally stable agreement. — Lynne Silva-Breen, MDiv, MA, LMFT
We have to admit it, being financially secure is where it all comes down one day, and having someone who will contribute to this can be one of the major decisions we will make in life.
Same-sex marriage has also been recently approved in all 50 states which means every couple, regardless if they have the same gender, is eligible for receiving all financial benefits marriage has to offer.