Sepasang anak muda datang ke kantor QM. Ceritanya mau konsultasi.
Pertanyaan gue ”Are you guys married?” dijawab dengan lucu : “Almost”.
Ternyata mereka berencana menikah tahun depan. Berani bilang almost karena memang sudah booking gedung dan keluarga sudah bertemu, panitia sudah terbentuk, dst.
Seperti kebanyakan almost married couples or newlyweds, mereka bertanya tentang bagaimana caranya mulai menyusun rencana keuangan berdua.
“Do you know how much he makes a month?” I asked the girl.
She smiled and proudly said “Ofcourse”
“Do you know where you want to live once you’re married?”
“Do you know where you want to put your kids to school?”
The couple was puzzled by the question.
“Kok gak ada pertanyaan yang bersifat keuangan sih Mbak?”
That’s the thing isnt it. We concentrate too much on the numbers and we forget that people are just people.
For me, money is tool. You have to be able to use it. You have to be able to spend it for something. To make sure it’s beneficial to your life, then we need to know what you need – as a person, as a couple.
Starting a financial plan together means you’re opening up to your spouse. You discuss the most difficult issues in your life : money. Jadi kata kuncinya cuma : Ngobrol!
Tehnisnya? Terserah aja!
Joint account is usually the easiest way to show your lover that you are committed to put money aside together. The thought that your money is ‘joint’ seems so romantic isn’t it?
Well it doesn’t have to be a joint account. I’d rather you all have separate accounts but know each other’s needs and know all the figures in each other’s accounts.
We started off 7 years ago with a joint account.
Just a week before the wedding, we opened a joint account and started putting money aside together. Sok iye aja rasanya masuk ke branch sebuah bank, berdua. (iiiiiiiiih hopeless romantic ya? Gak penting banget… Heu3 
)
After the financial disaster of the first 2 years of our marriage, it became too complicated to transfer money all the time to this joint account. So it was abandoned just like that.
This is what it looks like now…
You see, it doesn’t matter whether the account is a joint or a single account holder type. What’s important is you know your roles and where your money should go for a specific purpose.
Hope that helps….
Finance Should be Practical!
Ligwina Hananto
PS : Ladies, make sure you hold the ATM cards of all the different kinds of accounts )
