If you are married or are in a long term relationship, you have the potential to get your financial life in order like never before. Most of us don’t start out in the best of financial shape. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t improve with time – sometimes by many orders of magnitude! Some couples share financial responsibilities, but others do not. Traditionally, one member was an earner, the other the manager. Sometimes one person performed both of these roles. But if you want to maximize your long term financial potential as a couple, you’ve both got to be involved and invested. There are many financial incentives for married people. These aren’t reason enough to get hitched if you otherwise don’t want to. But if you are married, there’s no reason not to take advantage of these laws. For the rest of us, here’s how a long term relationship can be leveraged to improve both partners’ financial lives.

• Housing. Housing is one of the biggest expenses you’ll pay over the course of your life. Wouldn’t it be great if you could reduce it? Well, you can. If you and your partner can manage to buy a home together, you’re likely to accrue wealth much faster than if you remained renters. Houses tend to increase in value by 4-5% per year. Also, through the equity process, you pay yourselves every month, not some landlord. Furthermore, your annual taxes may be written off and mortgage loan interest rates are subsidized to be lower than any other loan you could possibly get. Add to this the ability to secure cheap financing by borrowing against your home’s equity in the future, and you have a veritable wealth building machine, all made even more accessible through partnered finances.
• Investment. If you clicked the link above, you understand marriage favors long term investment, even if one partner is not working. For short term investment, platforms like Forex allow you to see big returns in the shorter term. com provides many educational opportunities, in order to try your hand at this form of investment before you actually risk any real money. By planning your investment life together, in the short and long term, you can help ensure that you and your partner grow your wealth throughout your relationship.
• Daily Spending. Through joint budgeting and general frugality, you and your partner can make sure you are living well beneath your means. This way, you won’t have to work endlessly to fund a lifestyle you have no time to enjoy. The average American couple wastes a lot of money. By organizing your spending behaviors, you’ll have a much better chance of achieving a sustainable and enjoyable lifestyle in the long term.

As you can see, relationships make it easier to get one’s finances in order. It just helps to have someone on your side, an extra hand to help figure some of this stuff out. It might take years to really see progress, but with steady work and good communication, you guys will figure it out.