My husband and I recently came across a pretty cool tool for keeping our finances organized, it’s called Mint and it’s at www.Mint.com. We really like it because we can add all of our accounts and they automatically update, so no more having to go to our bank account, then to the credit card login, then…We were also able to add in our loans, 401k accounts, any stock we have, mortgage loans, car loans – absolutely everything! In this way, we are able to get a clear picture of our financial situation at a moments notice. Mint also allows you to categorize items similar to Quicken, so each time you go get your hair done for example, it will categorize that purchase properly. Next, you can then set up budgets and it will track it all for you and send you email updates (if you wish) when you exceed that budget category, when your account balance reaches a certain amount and more.
As a newly married couple, one of the biggest issues newlyweds and long time married people have is the issue of their finances. Why not start off your marriage right by getting all of your finances in order, totally transparent to each other. Once you’ve set this program up, you can then print charts and worksheets and make a call to a financial advisor who can help you flesh out your goals and how best to attain them. We just had our meeting with our financial advisor because the last time we saw him, we didn’t have our son yet. Now, as you can imagine, our priorities have changed a bit, so we went to see him to make sure we’re still on the right track and get advice on how to better align our spending with our goals. It’s really not as scary as you might think and will actually make you feel more in control of your finances which will automatically ease stress in the relationship. If you need a recommendation, you can email Rob Willgoss at Merrill Lynch in Rancho Bernardo. He’s great – he will tell you like it is, but encourage you as well, he takes great care of his clients.
Robert J Willgoss
Assistant Vice President
Global Wealth Management
MERRILL LYNCH PLAZA
11811 BERNARDO PLAZA COURT
SAN DIEGO, CA 92128
Phone: (858) 673-6711
Email: // Robert Willgoss
lifevents
