Getting two sources of income in a single household is no more a rare occurrence. With most of the modern-day couples opting to work, the possibility of dual-income at home: how to smartly utilize it, comes up more often than not. If you are recently married and both the spouses want to continue working, there are a few financial decisions that you must take.
The decision must be taken together since the spending and saving patterns of each spouse can be different. One of the easiest ways to utilize income smartly is to come up with financial goals and work towards them. To make smart use of dual income, you can split the goals into short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals.
Breaking down into different categories will make it easier for you to fund not only these goals but also track their progress. And should any goal need any course correction, you will have ample time to do the same. Here are some examples of goals that you can put into different categories.
1. Short Term Goals
Though the definition of short-term depends on you, here are some of the most commonly followed short term goals.
Contingency Fund
This is the first step of smart utilizing your funds. Once you get into a habit of saving, you can build upon that. As a rule of thumb, you can start looking at your savings for the last six months and see how you are doing. You must consider savings as a high priority goal and create your contingency fund.
Pay off Debt
The next step towards your short-term goals would be to pay off your outstanding debts, especially the high-interest ones like a credit card, personal loans, etc.
Holiday
A few additional expenses for a month of a quick getaway trip or a well-planned trip, ensure that you fund them only after taking care of your savings.
2. Mid Term Goals
Here are some classic examples of mid-term goals that you can start looking at.
Children Education
Given the ever-rising educational expenses, this is a mid-term goal that you must certainly plan for. This goal is valid for couples who are already having a child or the ones who have plans
Insurance.
Getting adequate cover as per your needs is a mid-term goal that you should not miss.
3. Long Term Goals
Some of the most popular long term goals are:
Build your Retirement Corpus
Retirement is one of the best examples of long-term objectives. Building a healthy corpus ensures that you have a stress-free retirement. As you grow old, you can add more funds to stable returning instruments. You would also want to take care of certain post-retirement expenses. A good retirement fund can provide necessary corpus to carry on with your life normally even after your retirement.
Though retirement might be a far way off, setting it up as a short-term goal will help you get into a habit of planning for your post-retirement phase. When you start early, even the smallest amount will help you build a considerable retirement corpus
Real Estate
Planning for real estate can also be a part of long-term goals. If you start allocating your funds smartly, you will be able to fund a real estate purchase a few years down the line.
These steps should help you make the most of dual-income in the house, without missing out on a lot of things.
Also read: Achieve goals of financial management