1      Do You Have Any Debt?

Ask your spouse-to-be if he or she has any debt, including credit card debt, loans, or mortgages. His or her debt may become your debt once you marry and you should feel comfortable with that idea or put a plan in place that separates your finances effectively.

You should also discuss how the debt will be handled once married. Will you both pay it off together or will each person be responsible for his or her own debt? If the answers are unclear, it could cause issues once you are married and your debt is commingled.

Large amounts of debt may be a warning sign of reckless behavior and can lead to marital stress; the more you know about your partner’s debt history before you marry, the more you can prepare your finances.

 2      Do You Have a Savings Account?

Having a savings account shows that your spouse-to-be is thinking about his or her financial future. Anyone can suffer periods of economic downturn, due to lay-offs or illness, so if your partner is saving money, he or she is most likely aware of the importance of being financially strong. 

 3      How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?

A high number of credit cards may be a sign that your partner has a spending problem. It can also lower his or her credit score and could cause a greater risk of running up debt and defaulting on a loan. A lower credit score can make it difficult to secure a mortgage for a house or a loan for a car, which may affect your future lifestyle as a couple.

 4      What Is Your Credit Score?

A credit score is a number that typically falls between 300 and 850, and is calculated based on your financial history. Lenders examine your credit score to determine how you rank as a borrower. If you have a low credit score (low 600s or lower), it will be more difficult to secure any kind of credit or loan.

Some factors that can contribute to lower credit scores are:

--    Too much debt as compared to income

--    Too much credit available

--    Late payments

--    Short credit history

To find out your credit score, go to Experian, Transunion, or Equifax.

 5      How Will We Handle Our Finances Upon Marriage?

Once married, you may decide to merge all of your monies into joint checking and savings accounts and eventually invest your money together. Or, you may decide to have your own bank accounts and pay things separately.

There are many ways of handling your finances together, so a good question to ask your spouse-to-be is how you both want to handle finances once married. By figuring out a system early on, future stress can be avoided, should you have different ideas of how to structure your finances together.

Another issue that will affect how your finances are handled is whether you both will work, especially if you plan to have children. You may want to work full-time, even if you are a parent, but your spouse-to-be may expect one of you to work part-time or not at all.

 6      Who Will Pay the Bills?

You may like the process of budgeting and paying bills for yourself or you may look forward to having your partner handle the finances. Either way, you need to find out who is going to handle the money once you are married.

Part of paying the bills is having a budget for your money, so you should determine how to create a budget for your finances. There are many personal online budgeting tools that can help you plan a budget together. Check out these Web sites: quicken.intuit.com/online-banking-finances.jsp, www.mint.com, www.pearbudget.com, www.justthrive.com.

 7      What Are Your Short- and Long-Term Financial Goals?

Ask your partner about his or her short- and long-term financial goals. He or she may want a large house and may want or need to travel extensively. You may also dream of owning your own business some day or becoming a real estate investor. Prior to getting married, have a frank discussion with your spouse-to-be about each other’s financial goals and how you may achieve them together.