How should couples manage money and invest? A financial adviser explains

**Jess** (0:00)
Everyone talks about having a sense of independence still, but do you think that is void?

**Glen Hare** (0:05)
And you're being really diligent in terms of what you do with your disposable income. Jordan's blowing it all on protein shakes, PTs, you know, the latest Gymshark gear. That's gonna have an impact on you. As an advisor, I don't care how you split the 800 bucks up. What I'm really interested in is the household needs 800 a week.

**Jess** (0:29)
Thanks so much to MLC for sponsoring this episode and helping us keep all of our content free. Welcome back to Get Started Investing, a show that helps you make the most of your money. I'm Jess, and as a beginner investor, I have plenty of questions about investing. As it turns out, so do you guys. So each week, I'm gonna sit down with an expert to tackle them so we can all become better investors together. Today I'm joined by financial advisor Glen Hare from Fox & Hare. So my partner and I have just bought our first home together, and honestly, we are still figuring out how to manage money together and what that actually all looks like. Do we combine everything? Do we keep separate accounts? Do we split expenses? 50-50? Do we invest together or separately?
I have no idea. So I brought Glen in. Glen works with couples between the ages of 20 and 45 every day. So today he's giving us some insight into what tends to work well and what doesn't work. Plus, we answer a question from producer Soph, who sent one in straight from her honeymoon after recently getting married. All righty, let's get into it.
Glen, welcome to Get Started Investing.

**Glen Hare** (1:30)
Great to be here.

**Jess** (1:31)
Great to have you back. A few things have changed since we last-

**Sophie** (1:36)
Yeah, you've been busy.

**Jess** (1:37)
I've been a busy gal. As I've sort of mentioned to you off mic, we did end up buying the house, which is very exciting.

**Sophie** (1:45)
Congratulations.

**Jess** (1:46)
Yeah, so a bit quicker than I thought and also completely different location from what we discussed. Even when we spoke, when we were looking at Bondi, I told you how expensive it was.
I don't think I quite realized that, what you can get for your money until we started looking and looking. I was just like, I just couldn't see myself in an apartment. Yeah, fair enough. Honestly. So then we tried to figure out on a map, what was close to both of our parents and still that coast life, and ended up in Mount Cola.

**Glen Hare** (2:15)
So not quite Bondi, so you're out of the bubble.

**Jess** (2:18)
Out of the bubble, but I've decided, because it backs onto bush land. So mentally, I'm just swapping the beach for the bush, and I'm going to become this trail runner. So I'm just going to find new hobbies.

**Glen Hare** (2:31)
All right. Do you like running?

**Jess** (2:33)
Yeah. I do like running already, but on the beach, I'm just going to do it in a bush.

**Glen Hare** (2:40)
All right.

**Jess** (2:41)
Anyway.

**Glen Hare** (2:41)
Good luck with that.

**Jess** (2:43)
Anyway, other goals we discussed are on track.

**Glen Hare** (2:46)
Yeah. Starting a family.

**Jess** (2:49)
No. You've given me five years for that. That's true.

**Glen Hare** (2:53)
Well, you did move very fast on the house, though. I think we said that was a couple of years away.

**Jess** (2:57)
True. I'll let you know about that too. We'll get you back in.
Right now, I just want to discuss Jordan and I and money as a couple, because obviously we were renting before. Now we've got a 50-50 mortgage. Naturally, the conversation has become, how do couples actually manage money together?
I put something out on our Instagram and I was hoping to get some advice from what other people do, but it seems so mixed out there. I was getting separate, together, mixed, so many different answers. I thought, I'll ask a pro. You speak to 20-45 year olds every day. Yeah. What do you see? What's the most common way that people manage money together?

**Glen Hare** (3:39)
So, you are right. There's no right or wrongs. But what I can share with you is some formulas or some ways that different couples do it depending on where they're at in their relationship. That's the key, really. It does depend on where you're at in your relationship. So, if you're fairly early on, you're courting, you're just going out, you're just finding the groove.
It's pretty separate.
It's pretty separate. We do have some of our members and those in that space, they would be individual members of Fox in here. So, they haven't brought their partner in after their third date to serve as an advisor.