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Rich Lunsford · 02-16-2009, 04:03 PM

Great questions! Congratulations on your marriage. By focusing now on your finances, you are showing excellent skills that will serve you well in your marriage. Most marital arguments have some roots in finance. As for the debt, you now both have debt. Both of you are affected by it. So, both of you should focus on paying it off as quickly as your budget allows. Having no debt allows a huge sense of financial freedom and lessens worry in the future (a huge benefit in itself). You may consider combining your finances when you marry. Your lives are now joined, why not your checking account? Especially in military life, one spouse may be required to leave for extended periods of time and the other is required to pay the bills, set up the savings and retirement plans and more. Joint accounts make that process a bit easier in a very tough time. Check out the options available at USAA at www.usaa.com.

Keep up the great work and I wish you only the best as you enjoy your new lives together!

Rich Lunsford is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM practitioner with USAA Financial Planning Services, one of the USAA family of companies. Rich holds the Series 7 and 66 securities licenses. Rich also holds the designations of Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®), and CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELOR (CRPC®).

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ in the United States, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.

02-16-2009, 04:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
Rich Lunsford Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 46 Classifieds: (0) Activity: 0% Longevity: 26%	Great questions! Congratulations on your marriage. By focusing now on your finances, you are showing excellent skills that will serve you well in your marriage. Most marital arguments have some roots in finance. As for the debt, you now both have debt. Both of you are affected by it. So, both of you should focus on paying it off as quickly as your budget allows. Having no debt allows a huge sense of financial freedom and lessens worry in the future (a huge benefit in itself). You may consider combining your finances when you marry. Your lives are now joined, why not your checking account? Especially in military life, one spouse may be required to leave for extended periods of time and the other is required to pay the bills, set up the savings and retirement plans and more. Joint accounts make that process a bit easier in a very tough time. Check out the options available at USAA at www.usaa.com. Keep up the great work and I wish you only the best as you enjoy your new lives together! Rich Lunsford is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM practitioner with USAA Financial Planning Services, one of the USAA family of companies. Rich holds the Series 7 and 66 securities licenses. Rich also holds the designations of Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®), and CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELOR (CRPC®). Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ in the United States, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. __________________ Need some money advice? USAA’s Rich Lunsford is here to help. Whether its investment advice, mortgages, college finances or deployments, he’s your money coach for any question you may have so just “Ask Rich!” Click here to submit your question to CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Rich Lunsford or participate in the discussion.