AFTER their honeymoon in Bali, Adam and Aida were back home. They had such a good time there but now it's time for them to live as husband and wife and it will take some adjustments.
As money is a sensitive topic, many couples keep it out of their relationship. Ironically, when they do talk about money, they don't just talk -- they argue. Therefore, it is important that they to have heart-to-heart talks on money matters. Below are some pointers for all newlyweds:

- Your financial plan has to move from being an individual to a shared one involving your spouse

- Decide on how to handle routine bills, paying for the family and children well-being, household budgeting, as well as savings and investments

- It may be wise to have at least three bank accounts -- "My Account", "Your Account" and "Our Account". This would enable each spouse to have some autonomy over their own finances while at the same time meet common expenses from their shared account
- Just as in the case of your individual financial plan, as a couple, you also need to keep aside an emergency fund to take care of those unexpected expenses.

- Talk about each other's investment style, including your respective risk appetite and preferences. It is wise to have a common investment portfolio to meet future financial goals, such as retiring together and living a comfortable life. These investments are also usually used to pay for your children's living and education expenses

- You may need to review your insurance coverage as well, especially if one of the spouses is not working or if there are children coming along the way. With dependence, we will most likely need to increase our coverage in the event something unfortunate befalls the breadwinner of the family.

After having considered the above points, Adam and Aida decided to draw up a joint family budget.

Adam and Aida have a healthy surplus of RM3,000 per month as they own only one car and are temporarily staying with Adam's parents .They were really able to save quite a lot. With this saving amount, they figured that they should be able to afford a home of their own and started working out the amount of home installment they can commit to.

As a rule of thumb, we can safely allocate up to one-third of our monthly take-home pay towards all our loan commitments.

As Adam and Aida are currently paying off their PTPTN loans and Adam's car installment, that leaves them with about RM2,000 for their home installment. With a loan tenure of 30 years and an assumed average interest rate of seven per cent per annum, they should limit their home loan to not more than RM300,000. However, they should also have about RM30,000 cash for down payment and another RM10,000 for other incidental costs such as stamp duties and legal fees.

With this in mind, they set their goal to save for this purpose for the next one year or so.

There are two good reasons why Adam and Aida felt that buying their own home is preferred than to rent one. Firstly, by buying a home, they should be able to increase their net worth over time while servicing their loan. This is because the value of the home would generally increase while the loan amount reduces. Secondly, owning one's own home brings about a sense of pride and accomplishment. It will provide Adam and Aida and their family a greater sense of security in having a permanent roof over their head.

However, when buying a house, you should do your homework. The golden rule of any property investment is location. You may want to consider the following additional tips:

- Drive around the neighbourhood at different times of the day and week to see how your potential neighbours are like, both during weekdays and over weekends

- Check the infrastructures or facilities in the area that can add value to the house, such as schools, shops, park/playground, public transport and surrounding businesses.

- Check if the property is located on freehold or leasehold land.

- Talk to property experts who can give you sound advice.

- Last but not least, do shop around for the best possible home loan package in town.

Remember, you must be able to afford to buy and pay for your house. Otherwise, your dream home will turn into a financial nightmare.

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Good sharing, thanks

yeah..thanx...really appreciate