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Award-Winning Money Management Website Helps Newlyweds Avoid Financial Wedding Bell Blues
Summer is the most popular season to get married and a wedding will likely be the biggest expense a couple faces in their first year of marriage. According to a newly released Visa survey of 1,000 cardholders, couples who got married in the past ten years spent an average of $7,873 on their weddings.
Additionally, two-thirds of all respondents said they overspent on their weddings. Specifically, men (16 percent) splurged on their honeymoons while women (21 percent) spent too much on food, drinks and wedding cakes, followed by their wedding dresses (11 percent). Where was money on the wedding best spent? Respondents answered wedding photos and decorations, with only 1 percent saying they overspent on those items.
"Marital bliss can quickly turn to fiscal friction if couples don't sit down and talk about their financial values and priorities before tying the knot," said personal finance expert and best-selling author Jean Chatzky. "Whether it is planning a wedding, sending a child off to college or thinking about retirement, marriage is full of critical and often unexpected financial decisions. One of the best ways couples can plan for them is to have a frank conversation about financial expectations and then create a budget."
To help couples prepare financially for marriage, Visa is providing a comprehensive marital money management guide as part of its free, award- winning online financial education program, Practical Money Skills for Life. Available at http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/marriage, these tips help couples keep in mind important considerations before walking down the aisle, such as:

  -- Communicate openly about your current financial state to determine what
     you can and can't afford.
  -- Determine who will fulfill financial tasks, such as balancing the
     checkbook, paying the bills and tracking investments prior to your
     wedding.
  -- Once you're married, review your insurance coverage.  Compare them to
     your spouse's to make sure they don't overlap -- that usually means
     wasted money. Combine coverage where you can and you could save quite a
     bit of money.
  -- If you are changing your name as a result of your marriage, either a
     completely new last name or a hyphenated last name, notify the Social
     Security Administration immediately to ensure your retirement account
     is properly credited.
  -- Update your name on your driver's license as well because it is often
     used for identification.

  Additional findings in the survey include:
  -- 36 percent of couples spent less than $1000 on their wedding.
  -- 2 percent spent more than $50,000 on their wedding.
  -- 21 percent of women believe they overspent on wedding food, cake and
     drinks, compared to only 9 percent of men who believe they spent too
     much in that area.
  -- 16 percent of men say they overspent on the honeymoon, while just 7
     percent of women agreed.

Web site:
http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/
http://www.whatsmyscore.org/
http://www.visa.com/

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