1. In today's modern era, it is important for both partners to be aware of family’s financial position, as death of a sole breadwinner can have severe financial repercussions for a family, even more if the person has handled most of the household investments.
2. Moreover, it can be a complete disaster if the deceased doesn’t tell anybody in the family about the investments, while failing to leave any records of the transactions.
3. Also, lack of communication between spouses on financial matters can severely impact their planning.
4. Even if the spouse may not have interest or knowledge to be involved in decision-making, he/she should be fully informed about the family’s monetary situation.
5. His/her reluctance may stem more from not being able to contribute to it, and this can be dealt with a step at a time by beginning to give the spouse information periodically on their finances with respect to their assets, investments and insurance covers, as well as obligations, such as loans.
6. Details of insurance policies like sum assured, tenure, premium and policy numbers should be clearly mentioned in a file maintained for this purpose.
7. Similarly, all details of fixed deposits, bonds, PPF, bank accounts, mutual fund folios and share trading account should also be mentioned.
8. A good idea would be to create a docket for investments, in which relevant and current paperwork, contact details and passwords are securely stored, and involving the spouse in creating this folder will give him/her a greater sense of understanding the complete picture.
9. In the next stage, he/she can start discussing with the spouse the performance of their investments and reasons for their selection, which will definitely be of interest to the spouse and, over time, help him/her to understand them and even start getting involved in the investment decisions.
10. Slowly, one can also make the other comfortable with nuances of the investment processes, how the money has been invested and how to deal with paperwork if the other is not around.
11. If the spouse is computer-savvy, information like salary, loans, credit card balances, investments and insurance details can be put on a Google spreadsheet that can be shared among each other, thus helping in complementing each other’s investments.
12. By combining their financial forces, a couple can also streamline their budget, cut wasteful expenses and thus optimize investments.
13. For instance:-
a) A joint home loan reduces tax for both salaried spouses.
b) High cost of a personal loan taken by one can be retired using surplus of the other.
c) Their random investment goals can be joined and focused, enabling them to spend better, yet invest more.