• Safely store your information. Quick: What’s your new spouse’s Social Security number? And what other vital information don’t you know if a sudden need arises?
To truly mark your financial coupling, you might consider using an online
service such as FidSafe.com that lets you store, access and share all your new family’s important records and documents anywhere via a web browser or iOS app.
Not only is it free and simple to use with handy checklists, but even before it was officially introduced two years ago by Fidelity, Barron’s magazine gave the service five stars for being what it called “the first cloud-based safe deposit box we’ve seen that’s secure enough to organize everything from financial statements, insurance policies, and real estate records to a will, IRA benefits, and even passwords.”
“With all the other things on their to-do lists, newlyweds typically don’t focus on all the important financial and other documents they need to begin married life on a solid footing,” says Peterson. “This makes things easier for them from the start, as well as through the years as they have even more joint documents to retain – including those related to perhaps buying a house and having children.”
• Investigate this option. Do you both get health insurance through your employer? Congrats. You may have just saved yourselves some money because, if it works out it’s less expensive for one of you to be on the other’s plan rather than pay for both.