Company secretary Naina Kanagat and her partner chartered accountant Harsh Goradia's journey began in school, where they were friends, and eventually, love blossomed between them. However, their paths diverged as Harsh moved to Australia for further studies, while Naina stayed back in India to pursue her company secretary course.
After much contemplation, they decided to pursue their relationship despite the geographical distance and cultural differences. As finance experts, they were well aware that their money management approaches differed significantly. Before tying the knot in 2021 after five years of dating, they knew that coming up with a solid financial system was crucial to ensuring harmony in their married life. They both educate each other about their respective fields of expertise. Naina familiarises Harsh with legal and compliance aspects, while Harsh enlightened Naina about intricate accounting and tax matters. This mutual exchange of knowledge strengthened their financial decision-making and planning.
Today, they share valuable tips for those who may find themselves in a similar situation.
Disclosing Your Financial Situation to Your Significant Other
The first lesson the couple learned was to follow transparency and open communication when it comes to money. Both of them disclosed their financial situations, including debts, savings, investments, and income. Naina says that honesty about financial matters made us trust each other more, enabling us to work together effectively to overcome our differences. They have always had open and honest communication, especially when it comes to finances. “Naina made it a point to have regular money talks where we discussed our financial goals, spending habits, and investment strategies. This helped us gain a deeper understanding of each other's priorities and reach a consensus on important financial decisions.”, Harsh adds.
Compromise and Find Middle Ground
In cases where their financial approaches clashed, both would compromise and find a middle ground. Whether it was deciding on the type of investments or the amount to spend on leisure activities, they made sure both perspectives were taken into account, resulting in a harmonious financial decision-making process.
Identifying Your Spouse’s Greatest Fear with Their Finances
Naina says, “We also tried to understand each other’s financial fears, whether it's the fear of debt, losing a job, or an unexpected financial crisis, and when we had more clarity, it made us bond and trust more.
Ensuring You're Still in Sync Financially
Life is full of changes, and financial goals and priorities may evolve. Ensure that aspirations align and make necessary adjustments to accommodate new circumstances. Harsh says that since they have gotten married, they regularly revisit their financial plans and discuss short-term and long-term goals together and create a balanced budget.
Set Common Financial Goals
While they may have different ways of achieving financial goals, Naina and Harsh agreed on a set of common objectives for their future. This included building an emergency fund, saving for a dream home, and investing in retirement plans. By identifying shared goals, they worked together as a team to achieve their aspirations.
Household Budget is Non-Negotiable
“Creating a household budget is crucial, we both actively participate in setting up the budget, allocate funds for essential expenses, savings, investments, and leisure activities and adhere to it strictly,” adds Naina.
Personal Accounts and joint account
However, she says that it's essential to share joint expenses and maintain individual personal accounts for financial independence and autonomy. “We both have spending accounts for personal expenses, and a joint account to manage shared expenses such as rent, utilities, groceries, and vacations. We both contribute proportionally based on our incomes,” she adds. This approach promotes a sense of collective responsibility.
Harsh says, “Besides budgeting for daily expenses, we have created a separate wealth account for long-term financial goals and investments. This account is for emergency funds, retirement plans, and for us to explore opportunities for wealth growth, such as stocks, real estate, or mutual funds.” The two take decisions together on this.
They also have a golden rule which helps them a lot, “While it's essential to stay informed about finances, constantly checking bank balance can lead to unnecessary anxiety. So what we do is, review financial accounts at specific times only, such as weekly or bi-weekly, and use personal finance apps to track expenses and monitor progress towards our goals.”, says Harsh.
