Getting married: the money checklist.

Decide the account architecture

Fully joint, fully separate, or yours-mine-ours. There's no right answer, only the fight you avoid by deciding on purpose.

Run the tax math both ways

Marriage changes brackets, credits, and deductions: sometimes a bonus, sometimes a penalty, especially with two similar incomes or student-loan payments on income-driven plans.

Compare and consolidate benefits at work

Marriage is a qualifying event: compare health plans, put each person on the better one, and check spousal coverage surcharges before enrolling.

Update every beneficiary

Retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death designations override your will. Old beneficiaries survive weddings unless someone changes them.

Re-shop insurance as a household

Multi-policy and married-rate discounts are real; auto plus renters or home bundled often drops meaningfully. One re-shop covers both people.

Set the debt strategy together

Whose debt gets attacked first, at what rate, from whose income. Highest APR first is math; agreeing on it out loud is the part that matters.

Write the boring documents

Wills, healthcare proxies, financial powers of attorney, and if either of you has significant premarital assets or a business, decide about an agreement while it's easy.