Have you started making your retirement plans or rather started investing for your retirement? If yes, then have you sought your partner’s views on planning for retirement or is your spouse aware of the investments that you have made or the insurance plan that you may have bought?
Investing for a prolonged period is a boring affair; you may just spice it up a bit by discussing the same with your spouse. Apart, the purpose of investing is marred if your spouse won’t know where to look for the money you have saved and accumulated over the years, after your death.
Any partnership is not possible without a ‘partner’. The partnership in marriage falls apart when you do not involve your partner in your retirement planning. Your partner is unable to participate in your investment journey, no matter how interesting or joyful it may seem to you.
Apart, it refrains you from proper planning considering how you may miss out on essential details while planning your finances, sans your spouse’ help. It’s time to relook at the following reasons if you are still not sure why you must involve your spouse in your retirement planning decisions.
Assess your financial goals correctly
Not everyone knows everything, which means that you may not be able to evaluate your financial goals alone as you think. There may be myriad details that you tend to miss out of ignorance. Also, you may not be aware of many aspects of your family’s, especially, your partner’s long-term goals, while planning your finances. Communicating with your partner and sharing your financial goals will allow you to discover many things that you were previously unaware of.
For example, you and your partner can jointly estimate the timing and exact funds needed for decisions such as children's education, marriage, and retirement. It helps you make more accurate investment decisions. Your children may have plans that may necessitate saving more or accumulating a higher amount in the long run, thus, begetting your partner’s view on how much to save and invest to achieve the desired financial independence.
Suresh Sadagopan, MD & Principal Officer, Ladder7 Wealth Planners says, “Sure. It does. After all financial planning is for the entire family and the goals and aspirations of all members need to be included. Also, if the partner is not included and is in the dark, it will be difficult to implement the financial plan as they may have objections later on. The financial plan implementation always suffers if the other stakeholder is not involved.”
Discuss to understand the risks involved
You and your partner may not have the risk appetite. While you may be enthralled with the idea of putting all your earnings in only one kind of investment, say equities, your partner may propose a better idea of diversifying your investments. It is possible that your partner may suggest a balanced proportion of investments that include equity instruments, debt fund investments, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), sovereign gold bonds, bonds and bank deposits.
Additionally, your partner can help determine how much risk you are willing to take when investing money. If your risk-bearing capacity is lower than your and your partner's joint risk-bearing capacity, there is. As a result, you and your partner can take appropriate risks to select investments with higher return potential.
Viral Bhatt, Founder, Money Mantra says, “One benefit is diversification. By pooling your resources, you can invest in a wider variety of assets and reduce your overall risk. The need for proper estate planning cannot be ignored. Joint investment accounts can simplify estate planning and help ensure that your investments are passed on to your intended beneficiaries. A combined income can give way to a joint investment account that can take advantage of both spouses' incomes, potentially allowing for a larger investment portfolio.”
Easy claiming of the corpus amount
How is your spouse expected to claim the insurance amount or redeem your investments after your death if do you not keep him or her in the loop? This calls for the need to have a joint understanding of the investments made and ensure that both are in tandem regarding the money invested. Apart, you may have more nominees other than your spouse, thus, necessitating you to keep him or her informed.
Many claims lie unattended as investors refrain from sharing their details with their spouses.
Bhatt added, “Communication is the key to a strong relationship. It is important to have open and honest communication with your partner about your investments. This helps build trust and ensures that both partners are aware of the financial decisions being made. Remember to include your partner in the decision-making process. Involve your partner in the decision-making process by discussing the various investment options and discussing the potential risks and rewards. This helps to ensure that both partners have a clear understanding of the investments and can make informed decisions together.”
It is important that you trust your partner with your investments. Deciding on your investments without keeping your partner informed is futile and is nothing but an unconscious attempt at destroying your finances.
