Welcome to Fast Start Finance, the newsletter helping young professionals and recent grads feel confident about money.

Today's Read Time: 4.2 Minutes

Welcome! Today we're talking Vacations and Managing Finances as a Couple (which when done right can lead to Vacations! :))

Are You Funding
My Trip to Japan?

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As you read this, my wife and I will be in Tokyo, Japan! (I set-up this newsletter to send automatically so hopefully it worked!)

A big part of us going to Japan was affording 9-nights of lodging.

How’d we do it?

Credit Card points.

Have you ever pondered why companies give us points? Who knew they were so charitable!

They’re not.

Credit Card companies' profit margins are so large that they are happy to throw points our way if it will keep customers spending.

Let’s discuss.

Credit Card companies make most of their money through interest in credit card accounts.

Those interest rates range from 10-30% and get charged when you hold a balance (by not paying off your card in full each month).

While they’re collecting 10-30% interest on our balances, they give us 1-3% back in the form of points or cash back.

If the math isn’t immediately clear to you… we are losing in that equation.

You will never “beat the credit card companies” if you are paying them monthly interest.

The points you get aren't worth more than the interest you've paid.

How do you flip the script?

Simple: When the month ends, pay off your card in full.

You avoid paying interest and still get those sweet, sweet points!

So, back to my original question: Are you helping fund my Japan trip?

Hopefully not, but if you are, thanks for the hotels!

One of my favorite websites on all things Credit Cards is ThePointsGuy.com.
They've got fun articles if you want to do more points reading.

Question of the Week: How Do You Manage Finances as a Married Couple?

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Financial Alignment as a couple is incredibly important.

An overwhelming body of research points to “money disagreements” as a consistent top 3 cause of divorce.

Let’s discuss a few of those disagreements and as always, get practical with what to do about them.

First, as with most things in a relationship, it comes down to communication.

According to the Journal of Financial Therapy, couples often have different financial mindsets.

One may have grown up a saver, the other a spender.

One may track their money religiously, the other may be totally unaware of theirs.

A good way to get ahead of this is having a “money talk”.

Before you get married, have an open discussion about finances:

• What are your financial goals long-term?
• What type of car do you see yourself driving?
• What type of house do you see us living in one day?
• Are you naturally a saver or spender?
• How did your parents handle money in your childhood?
• Have you ever helped family members financially? Do you see that happening once we are married?
• Are you in any debt? What does that look like for you?

Discussing these questions openly and without judgment early is a great way to set expectations and get ahead of inevitable disagreements.

Another risk area is around financial stress and debt...

Another great question from Austin B. this week!
​Want to be next week’s question? Reply to the email and ask!

It was fun researching how couples manage money.

It got me thinking and I realized that I don't know how you all manage your money.

So...I'd love to hear from you. What does "managing money" mean to you?

Reply to this email and let me know.

Be as thorough or brief as you'd like. I think it will help as I continue to write these.

Talk next week!

Chris
[email protected]