Photo: parani kumar
Shreeram Sreenivasan, 30,
marketing manager, real estate
Sabitha Subramaniam, 27,
homemaker
Location: Chennai
Goals: Buying a house and
planning for the future of their
expected child
Bank accounts: The couple
maintains separate bank accounts
Money roles: She takes care of
household expenses from money
in her account; he takes care of
bills, premiums and investments
Investment decisions: Taken
mostly by Sabitha after consulting
with Shreeram
partners are earning and there’s
no financial dependency, no life
insurance is needed. If any of the
partners’ parents are dependent,
they should take term insurance
policy to provide for them in case
of unforeseen circumstances,”
says Renu Maheshwari, CEO and
Principal Consultant, Finscholarz.
That said, individual life
insurance is required for both
partners, especially if they are
planning to have children soon. This
way their total income is protected
in case of any eventuality. A term
cover is the best way to go as it does
not mix investment with insurance
and provides a higher cover at a
lower cost. Shreeram, for example,
has an insurance policy with a sum
assured of `35 lakh, but he would do
well to hike the insurance amount.
Divya and Kaustubh are covered
adequately by health insurance – the
medical expenses of an immediate
family member made them realise
how important it is to have medical
insurance. Divya’s company provides
her with a floater medical cover of `8
lakh, while they also have a private
Renu Maheshwari
CEO and Principal Consultant, Finscholarz
“It is imperative that the couple be on the
same page regarding personal finances. We
suggest they sit and decide what they want
out of their money”
insurance cover of `17 lakh for both.
Shreeram, who has a medical cover
of `2 lakh provided by his company
for him and his wife, would on the
other hand need to buy a private
insurance health cover with a higher
coverage.
Creating a budget
Budgeting is one of the basics
of financial planning and it’s no
different for married couples.
“Keep a record of ongoing monthly
expenses, income, savings, and
repayments (loans) and maintain
the same for six months to identify
a trend and the correct spending
patterns,” says Dilshad Billimoria,
director, Dilzer Consultants. This
helps a couple stay within their
spending limits and ensures there’s
enough money left to save and
invest.
“We’ve lately started to maintain
an expense book to see how much
we spend that’s not strictly required.
We generally tend to stick to it up to
a point but if any situation demands
a splurge we tend to indulge and
make up with cost-cutting in
subsequent months,” says Shreeram.
For instance, when expenses went
up during Diwali, the couple scaled
back the following December
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