Try thinking about your marital finances in football terms

Let’s have some fun today grooms. It’s time to take your upcoming marriage and think of it in football terms. I’m sure most of you have either played or watched at least one football game. I’ll give you the known factors and ask you to participate:

The field is your marriage. Whether you are days away or even months away, this is the field. You are moments away from finding out the specifics so that you know the lay of the land before you begin the game.

Teams are Brides and Grooms: the soon-to-be-husbands and wives. Initially it may look like you are on separate teams in the beginning until you say “I Do.” The idea is that you are on the path to uniting.

Object: To begin talking about money and continue throughout your marriage. Money talk is not just a one time discussion.

Rules:  A coin must be flipped to see who begins – bride or groom.

The coin toss winner gets to ask the first financial question. If the question is strictly a surface question – no points can be given.

How to begin the game:

If the question makes the person uncomfortable to ask because it is asking hard questions, the person who responds truthfully gets 3 points.

Next, the responder gets to ask his or her first financial question. If the question is avoided completely, then the person asking the question gets 7 points for asking and not changing the question. If the question is avoided, the person asking the question gets to ask a second question.

Ask the important questions about money and marriage

What are the questions:

Let me ask you this, what do you want to know about your future spouse’s finances that you have been afraid to ask. That can be a beginning place.

I recommend you and your bride-to-be get some refreshments and sit down, begin the Financial Football game, and let us know how it turns out.

How do you begin the game?  The bride and the groom are the captains of the team. Flip a coin and see who gets to start. What will be the first question you ask?

** Remember, any financial mistakes and decisions made before you say “I Do” you cannot hold against the person. You were not there and cannot place blame.

No matter what we do in life, our personal stories play out like many of the classics from the silver screen. Never is this truer than during your engagement. Getting to know your future spouse and their own personal movie time line is very important. There will be surprises along the way (probably a few I Know What You Did Last Summer moments). But, the more you learn – the better.

My future spouse and I would spend hours talking about our past, present, and what we wanted in the future. Our confessions fell into many “genres,” but the most controversial area was definitely finances.

Enter: Jaws.

You may as well prepare to be eaten alive if you don’t talk about debts, budgets, and what savings before you walk down the aisle. Many couples fail to do this and end up as fish food. But, don’t worry – not every tale ends up with the financial shark chomping away at your relationship. If you’re not afraid to talk about money, you’ll end up swimming in money!

Think about what your financial “movie” would be like? I encourage you to devote a few hour per month during your engagement to talking finances with your fiancé. These conversations will help you avoid financial failure. Enter: Titanic.

Dr. Taffy Wagner is a Certified Educator in Personal Finances and founder of DebtAtTheAltar.com She is the Creator of Money Talk Before The Commitment Walk and Debt Stops At The Altar financial education program for engaged couples and newlyweds.