Please join us tonight (6PM Eastern, 3PM Pacific) on the Personal Finance Hour as JD and I discuss coupled finances. Many of you weighed in on the subject last Friday in the Your Take post on Coupled Finances (thank you!), and we’ll be using many of your points as discussion points during the show. We like to think of ourselves as an interactive show and would love it if you were to call in and chat with us. If you write a blog or have a favorite one you want to mention, please feel free to do so!

At 6PM Eastern, 3PM Pacific, the show will be broadcast online at this page (there’s also a chat room on that page where lots of listeners chat with one another, I’ve heard it’s a fun time!). You can also listen to the show on your telephone by calling calling (347) 327-9144. If you want to get on the air, hit “1″ and we’ll get the notification and get you try to get to you as soon as we can.

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We hope you are able to listen (live or later in the week!). Thanks!

Next Monday, JD and I will be discussing the topic of coupled finances on the Personal Finance Hour. We briefly touched on the topic a few weeks ago when we learned that JD and his wife Kris keep their finances separate whereas my wife and I keep around combined. We know it’s a hot topic with both sides having very strong opinions but when we learned that we each approached it different, we thought it would make for a fantastic topic.

Here’s where I need your help. Do you have any questions you want answered by either one of us? If you want to know something about how JD handles their separate finances or how I handle combined finances, please ask it in the comments below or call in when the show is live.

I’d also like to hear how you handle coupled finances or would handle coupled finances (for the non-couples out there). Nothing is off limits and please feel free to debate one another, the goal here is to learn (but please be civil!).

Thanks in advance!

(benstephenson)

When it comes to long term financial planning, my wife and I don’t really have one. We have some long term goals but we don’t have any dates pegged for those goals (which include starting a family, going back to school, buying a new home, etc.), which is about as useful as having no goals at all. That being said, it was about time we sat down and put pen to paper so we would stop committing the fourth deadly sin of personal finance – failing to plan.

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Last week, I had the pleasure of introducing Gary Bonner, who will be giving his perspective on current personal finance issues, and this week I have the pleasure of introducing Connie Brooks. Connie is a personal finance blogger and author about to release her first book – How to Retire Comfortably and Happy on Less Money Than the Financial Experts Say You Need: Insider Secrets to Spending Less While Living More. She regularly blogs at ThriftyMamas.com and recently started a family with the addition of a baby girl.

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Hot on the heels of a pretty bad sin yesterday, Failing to Budget, comes its brother in arms – failing to plan for the future.

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Last month I reviewed Financial Infidelity by Dr. Bonnie Eaker Weil and then followed it up with a giveaway in which I asked you for relationship and finances questions. Well, as luck would have it, Dr. Bonnie was gracious enough to take the time to answer each of your questions!

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Financial Infidelity by Bonnie Eaker Weil is a book all couples should review. When I first saw the title, I immediately thought to myself – “Awesomedude (yes, I call myself Awesomedude in my brain), you and your wife communicate openly about everything so probably won’t get much out of this book.” So I let it sit for a couple weeks before I took a look at it, however I’m glad I did. Financial Infidelity isn’t a book for people dealing with financial infidelity, it’s a book for people in relationships and establishing a framework for open communication about everything (but focusing on the effect of money). If you have problems (and you’re not alone, financial infidelity is rampant), this book can help. If you don’t have problems, this book will uncover what you don’t know or simply confirm all is well going forward.

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After the wedding, I started taking a closer look at the tax numbers and incorrectly concluded that the only time someone would ever file as “married filing separately” would be if one partner earned a whole lot and one partner earned not as much. The logic was that the lower earner wouldn’t be subject to the same tax rates as the higher earner and thus the difference would overcome the different tax brackets. The only correct assumption I made was that the lower earner wouldn’t lose access to any tax advantaged accounts, like Roth IRAs, because they’d still be over the limits for those types of accounts. I already gave out my hypothesis and my result (I was wrong and am now clueless as to why anyone would file separately if both options were available) but here’s what I did.

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A few months ago I discussed the idea of combining finances when a couple gets married and this guest post by Pinyo of Moolanomy is very appropriate since my wife and I are currently on our honeymoon!

One of the last things that most couples think about before getting married is money. Unfortunately, one of the most common reasons why couples go through a divorce is also money. I have to admit that when I got married, money wasn’t the first thing on my mind — it was love. Although we each have our own financial quirks, I have to say that we are lucky to be about 99% financially compatible.

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Since Jim is newly married and off on his honeymoon, I thought I’d take the time to focus on marriage and money. I’ve been married almost 13 years, and though my husband and I don’t argue about money much these days, there are a few things I wish I would have realized at the beginning of my marriage. It would have made the first few years a lot easier.

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