Marriage is not just a decision anymore, it is more of a responsibility wherein we need to put in a lot of thought before getting into it. Things have changed and are not the same as how it used to be when our parents used to tie a knot at an early stage of their lives. Our previous generation didn’t make decisions about marriage based on their financial condition. Marriage was something that was compulsory and by a certain age, everyone had to get into one no matter if the groom was financially stable or not.
But would you be ready to marry someone just after you graduated? It scares the hell out of us to take responsibility for someone when we are facing problems in dealing with our own finances. Right? I will tell you straight that there won’t ever be a time when everything will be as perfect as we want it to be.
But then there’s also one reality that we can’t escape from i.e. money is, unfortunately, an important aspect to look at when we are deciding to get married because marriage brings additional expenses over which we don’t have much control. When we are living our bachelor life we have the freedom to share our flat with our friends and we generally share a 2 bhk flat with 4-6 flatmates and this helps us reduce our expenses to a great extent. But once we get married we tend to rent/buy a 2bhk just for the two of us. So, if we don’t have enough money to start a new life together, delaying marriage would probably be the only option left.
So, now the real question is when are we completely ready to take this big step of our life? or will we be ever ready to take any responsibility willingly?
Let’s now look at various gifts and risks that come along with marriage :
Advantages/ Gifts that one gets :
1. Double Dough: We ain’t living in a time when the whole burden of family is carried by a single earner, instead by marriage now the incomes are combined, there’s a broad opportunity to clear debts sooner and a chance to advance your savings.
2. Dear Comrade: What’s better than having our partner as a comrade? Nothing! Nothing at all ! with the help of each other being able to manage budgets well, we can be financially alert and be sure of our investments.
3. Cover Together: Don’t you think the insurance premiums are eating up all our money? Be it any insurance health,automobile or life, we can combine our insurances to save on monthly expenses.
4. Home Sweet Home: Every individual dreams of having their own home and it becomes easier to own one after marriage. When we apply the loan banks tend to approve because of two income sources.
Disadvantages/ Risks that one faces:
1. Spendaholic: It’s very important for a partner to understand his/her spouse and adjust their goals and spending habits according to them. If either one or both turns out to be a spendaholic, things might end up worse.
2. Mouse in the House: Debt is something that can even ruin a person’s life. Usually, because of past debts/ education loan, a person gets a financial burden which affects their partner as well. After marriage we are not just sharing our lives but our debts as well and we cannot do much about the unavoidable debts but then unnecessary debts or the debts which can be postponed should not be the reason for the stress one goes through.
3. Baby Trouble: We can’t be young forever and so there will come a time when our family grows. The time when we expect a baby our partner would need to leave their job which might result in financial burden. The expenses to raise a child are way high than buying a home or a high-end car and so one should be planned well before taking any such decision.
These advantages and disadvantages were to make you understand that marriage is something where you enjoy certain benefits and also deal with financial risks that come along with it. Whatever might be the ideal age of marriage one should take this big decision only after evaluating one’s financial position. Marriage had a certain age associated with it until the late 90s but it isn’t the scenario now, instead it is based on one’s personal decision.
For example: if one manages to settle at the age of 24 and can take the responsibilities of starting a family, it’s not logical to delay the marriage but if one has problem in managing their finances and face difficulty in bringing it on track then one must delay the marriage until they are financially ready.
When should I get married ?
This might be a challenging question to answer but according to me when a person has completed their education, has been earning a stable income for 2 years, has a bank balance (regular monthly expense x 6) acting as and emergency fund and is sure that their standard of living wouldn’t be compromised becauseof marriage, then they can go ahead and plan their marriage or else they must look forward to achieve it before thinking about marriage.
