Family Finances: The Importance of Keeping Everyone Informed

posted on

June 14, 2024

In your household, does one person handle all the finances? Who pays all the bills, files the joint taxes, deals with insurance matters, and knows where all the important papers are saved?

What happens if that person becomes ill and can’t take care of these tasks?

At SRP Federal Credit Union, our members come first. We understand the importance of keeping everyone in the family informed of finances. Here are a few steps to help get all the adults in the family up to speed and involved:

Step 1: Have a family budget meeting

Sit down with your spouse, partner, or adult children and talk about spending habits and savings. Go over your combined incomes and total expenses, including the amount spent on groceries, mortgage, insurances, entertainment, kids, etc. Review all your debts together, including credit cards, medical bills, and student loans. This will help you understand where you currently stand financially as a family. If you or your spouse have a written budget in place, make sure both of you agree with and follow it. If there isn’t a budget in place, this is an excellent opportunity to create one together.

Step 2: Review your retirement accounts

This is your financial future, too; it’s important that you know how much you both are contributing to your retirement accounts and what the current balances are. You should know where your accounts are held and how to access them. Make sure everyone knows where important financial documents are kept, physically or digitally.

You should visit your financial planning advisor at SRP so they can go over and explain your current accounts. It’s also a great time to review the beneficiaries on your accounts.

Step 3: Understand you insurance coverages

Know what is covered by all your insurance plans, including life, health, home, and auto. Make sure you know who to contact to file a claim and what your deductibles and co-pays are for each policy.

Tips for Staying Involved:

Once all the adults in your family understand your current finances, it’s important to continue staying involved. Start having monthly budget meetings with your spouse, partner, or adult child to review current spending and planned expenses for next month.

Feel free to meet with one of SRP’s financial counselors. Our counselors have extensive training and are certified to extend financial counseling services. They can assist you by helping you understand financial principles, create financial goals and strategies to achieve them, and so much more. In addition, our counselors work with people of all ages, so they can help every member of your family be financially conscious.

Become a member of SRP today!

Getting involved in managing your family finances enables you to feel more empowered and ready to handle any unexpected life events that come your family’s way.

With SRP Federal Credit Union by your side, you can be sure that we’ll help your family every step of the way. If you have an immediate need we can help you with, don't hesitate to get in touch with us. Become a member today!

This article is for informational purposes only. Membership required. SRP is federally insured by NCUA.

Article Credits: CUNA