Having two incomes often means more than twice the complexity of a single income family. From budgeting to optimizing benefits, both working partners must be fully aligned to achieve financial success.
At Mercer Advisors, we understand that a solid foundation lies in setting clear goals and crafting a clear and actionable plan to achieve them. Dual career families often have a higher degree of both professional and family stress. The plans that we help you create provide important financial confidence and lets you focus on what’s most important to you and your family.
In dual career families, effective financial planning is not just about managing money; it’s about empowering both partners to achieve their career and financial aspirations while also prioritizing family well-being and security.
The United States is a Nation of Dual-Income Working Couples
Over the last 50 years, the composition of earners in a family has changed dramatically:
- Dual-income families have increased by more than 20%
- Husband as the only earner has decreased by more than 50%
- Wife as the only earner has increased by 370%
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements 1968 – 2021
Creating a Goal Strategy for Dual Income Families and Tracking Success
Navigating the intricacies of a dual income family requires a meticulous approach that combines your family goals with your professional ones. Our approach involves a 4-step plan that starts with goal planning and ends with success tracking. We also know that things change and evolve, so we make sure to evolve our plan to help meet your dynamic life.
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Goal Planning
A study by psychology professor, Dr. Gail Matthews, found that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them than those that don’t. During the Goal Planning phase of your work with us, you, your partner, and your advisor will work closely to deeply understand your goals. We take the time to find out the “why” of your goals and not just the goals themselves so that we have the context to create the right plan for you and your partner.
Data Gathering and Organization
Twice the benefits, twice the incomes, twice the taxes, and twice the expenses. Your advisor will work to organize your information so everyone has a clear picture of where all your assets are, what is coming in, what is going out, and how much you are saving.
Positive outputs are often tied to the right inputs. In the Data Gathering Phase, we’ll work together to ensure we have all we need to help you track and achieve your agreed upon goals.
Division of Labor
Understanding who does what in a dual-income family is a key part of achieving success. We develop action items and tasks to keep everyone on track. We decide together who will make estimated tax payments and when, who will fund which account, who will work up and fine tune budgets. We understand that there are many things to keep track of and are here to help you coordinate.
Success Tracking
Achieving success in your financial life is never a “set it and forget” process. Your life will change and evolve, and your goals should be adjusted accordingly. We help you assess not just where you are with your current goals, but whether those are still the right goals. We ask the important questions to help you achieve a greater sense of clarity around where you are and where you are going.
