Money can ruin your relationship – so when you say “I do” at the altar, you have to say “I do” with your finances.

I do is a framework I have developed to navigate your finances as a married couple. Goes like this:

Initiate conversation
MudIVVY UP 'ACCOUNTS, MINAT AND JONA ”
OPt for a prenup

To show you how it works, I will give you an example of real life-with the famous couple Sharna Burgess AND Brian Austin Green.

Step 1: Start the conversation

Initiating a cash conversation seems to be an intelligent-but many couples rest it.

This is what happened to Sharna and Brian. “We had a baby much faster than we thought we were going to go,” Sharna told me in my podcast Rehabilitation of money This week. “I think because it was like going through a full -speed tunnel at the beginning of our relationship, there were some conversations that just lost.” “

If you haven't had this conversation yet, you have it now. Don't wait a moment longer. If you wait up to the “right time” to chat the money, it will be late.

So what should you talk about? Here's a place to start:

Step 2: Divvy Up Accounts

Here is the first question couples face: Whose money are they who?

This is a personal decision, and there is no system that works for every couple. Some couples combine finances. Some keep them separate. Personally, I like a system I call “yours, mine and ours”.

It is simple: you keep a bank account that is only for you, your spouse holds an account for them only, and both contribute to a common account. This way, you maintain a financial independence, but you also build a financial life together.

This is what Sharna and Brian do. For charna, it helps to keep the magic alive. “I don't want to be on his books because that's not my job,” she said. “I feel like this removes some of the romances.”

But as you create a plan to join Finances, you also need to create a plan to remove them. That means

Step 3: Choose for a Prenup

If you have any form of a “tone” or a common account, a prenup is critical.

This conversation can make people uncomfortable. For the first time I spoke with Sharna a year ago, and asked if she and Brian have a premature plan. She visibly froze, then told me it would be very difficult to discuss with Brian.

But a year later, it has changed its melody. “I think protecting myself is a beautiful thing,” she told me lately. “Knowing that everything is right and you've made big decisions, I think it's too smart.”

I fully agree – but I understand her fear a year ago.

Prenupes feel uncomfortable and stressful, mainly because people think of Prenup as divorce planning. But indeed, it's just insurance. You don't get car insurance because of You are planning to enter a car accident. You get an emergency insurance, and hope you will never have to use it, but it makes you feel a little more comfortable in your car.

This is how a prenup should feel – it's an urgent measure that makes you feel more confident in your relationship, no less.

The intersection of love and money can be messy, but if you follow the frame of me, you will do properly from your partner, yourself and your portfolio.