WMW 2012 -- Relationships & Money

My husband D and I have what we believe to be a fairly rare financial understanding compared to other couples we know.

It is our goal to be equal financial partners. What that means for us is equal contribution to assets as well as debt repayment. For some this philosophy can mean buy a home based on the lower salary. Personally I believe this to be a pretty smart move.

We both came into our relationship with homes and assets. I had a higher amount. When we made the commitment as a couple, D sold his house and we lived in my house until we found our home. In our case my husband needed to catch up. Neither of us had any consumer debt.

As we are both self made, it doesn't surprise me that D truly wants to own half. So he is currently paying what is left of our mortgage and car as well as an "annuity" to me equal to the amount I've overpaid.

I overpaid because we wanted to be debt free faster. If I could have done another year of mortgage pre-payments we would have been done in another year or so. But I had had enough of it mentally and emotionally.

We also believe in being each other's "back up". We make roughly the same now, so should one of us suffer an emergency and cannot work, the other can carry things without too much of a hiccup.

I am quite conservative with respect to monetary risk and surprises. And we're wise enough to know stuff happens anyways despite the best preparation. So we do what we can to mitigate risk.

We have accounts that cover the future cost of roofs, appliances, home improvement, cars as well as a year's worth of expenses. There is a small life insurance policy equivalent to the amount outstanding as we have no dependents.

This post is a part of Women's Money Week 2012. For more posts about Relationships & Money, see womensmoneyweek.com.