Megan and Kevin were married just a few months ago, and they are happily adjusting to their
new lives together. Megan, who grew up in San Diego, and Kevin, who grew up in a small town
30 miles from Memphis, met at State University and dated for most of their college careers. Both
had enrolled in a large Physics course, and they happened to sit next to each other the first day
of class. By the end of the week, they each decided the only way to survive the class was to
organize a study group…and by the end of the semester they were “an item.” While neither of
them decided to become a physics major, Megan did receive her Bachelors degree in psychology
and started graduate school two years ago. Kevin received his Bachelors degree in Business
last summer and began his first job with a large consulting firm soon thereafter. He received a
$5,000 signing bonus that he used to open a money market mutual fund and to buy stock in
AT&T.
The first few months of marriage have been accompanied by many changes in both Megan and
Kevin’s lives. These include the normal challenges of merging two individual lives into one (e.g.,
selecting an apartment, taking a spouse’s needs and wants into account when deciding on
employment, etc.). But, as with many couples, financial management issues have been
particularly challenging. While dating they were each somewhat aware of the other’s spending
patterns and college funding, but financial practices were considered individual choices and not
really discussed. Now as a married couple they want to merge their finances, so both past and
future financial management practices are topics of debate.