Get your Romance Novel plot from the Wall Street Journal

Here is an article that lays out the plot of a Romance Novel -- bare bones, but very realistic:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323308504579087483530489704.html


Five things to think about:

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Roman Muradov

1 Student loans
According to Fidelity Investments, 2013 graduates who had borrowed had an average of $35,200 in college-related debt, so lots of millennials bring debt into their marriages. The average household headed by someone under 35 carried $89,500 in debt in 2010, including mortgage debt, the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances shows. (That's up from $53,700 in 1989, measured in 2010 dollars.)
The first thing to do is have an open conversation with your spouse in which you both disclose all the skeletons in your financial closets. You should also make a plan for tackling that debt that makes clear whether each person will help pay down the other's debt or if it's the responsibility of the borrower alone. Before even getting married, you should also share credit reports with your spouse so you can work to improve your scores in advance of a major purchase, says Theresa Fette, CEO of Provident Trust Group in Las Vegas.
2 Making a budget
Setting a budget is no fun, but it's critical for a young couple because money can be tight at the beginning of a career. Money conflicts are a top reason for divorce (which itself can wreak financial havoc), so making a financial plan with your partner and sticking with it can help avert lots of arguments about overspending or racking up credit-card debt, says Michael Mussio, a financial planner at FBB Capital Partners in Bethesda, Md. You can use an online program like Mint or LearnVest to map out a budget and see if you're spending too much in certain categories, says Joan Snyder Kuhl, head of consulting firm Why Millennials Matter.
3 Planning for children

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