Financially Sound!

Every girl needs to be financially sound before tying the wedding knot. New Woman tells you the right way to go about it.

As the wedding fever catches up, a lot of effort goes into the planning of the wedding. As a bride-to-be, your parents, family and friends get into the act of designing a grand wedding day. Now let’s pause here for a moment… Have you thought of your finances post wedding? Think about it. You are moving to a new house, a new environment and a new family. If you’re not working, you will either have to depend on your husband or in-laws to finance your basic needs. These needs could be as simple as buying an ice-cream or paying a mobile bill or even buying a book, and you might hesitate to approach others for it. But during your upbringing, you are taught to be independent. Then, how do you meet your needs? On the other hand, if you’re employed, you may have to fund your siblings’ pocket money, handle their educational expenses, or even shoulder the household expenses. Then, after stepping into your new family, how will you continue doing so? Planning in advance and proper understanding will not only help you meet these needs easily but also avoid tensions in future.

Categories of financial needs

1. Day-to-day personal expenses met out of pocket money.

2. Expenses for running household.

3. Funds to tackle emergencies.

4. Funds to meet future goals (house, luxuries like car, foreign travel, etc.)

1. Be financially independent
In the first scenario where the bride is not working, she requires some counselling with respect to managing funds, because she will have to do the planning in accordance with her family members. So, she needs to learn to be financially independent. Apart from planning the wedding, this is the most important job of the bride’s parents. Equipping a bride who is unemployed is done in two ways—1. Provide formal education that includes vocational training. 2. Make investments before marriage in such a way that the monthly annuity payment starts accruing to her right from her marriageable age. With vocational training, she can start her own venture and generate income without depending on her spouse or in-laws.

2. Plan your finances
A little planning in advance will remove the hitch and make the bride more confident in handling her post-marriage financial issues. It is also essential that the new bride has an independent bank account and is well versed in handling the same. Thus, she can spend from her account and ask for financial support from her in-laws after observinghow the new family’s finances flow. So, it is advisable that one starts planning finances before marriage.

3. Save for the future
In the other scenario, where the bride is employed at the time of marriage, half her problems are solved in terms of financial security. Life becomes easier as she is already financially equipped. However, it is not advisable to spend the entire sum on the expenses of marriage. While a huge sum is spent on clothes, jewellery, food, etc. one needs to ensure that a little amount is diverted on savings too. On an average, it is essential that a woman saves a minimum of 25-30 per cent of the salary earned.

4. Tackle unforeseen emergencies
The bride should ensure that she is nominated for her husband’s bank accounts and other financial assets. Besides, both the bride and the groom should undertake a life and a medical insurance policy where the bride is nominated as the legal heir (this should be done considering the other members of the family). With the assured amount available to the legal heir (the bride), she will remain financially secure.

5. Invest wisely
While we talk about inflation, we only talk about the price hike in commodities. However, we are ignoring the huge hike in school fees, medical treatment, house construction, and all these things require thorough planning and sound investment. In view of this, it becomes necessary that financial planning is a must at all levels in the family.