Joint Finances & The Two Income Trap

To combine finances or to run like hell in the opposite direction, that is the question. We share our own partnered money setups and then dive deep into the much lauded book The Two Income Trap by Elizabeth Warren & Amelia Warren Tyagi… some of us liked it, some of us hated it but we were all left wondering whether it’s even possible for two people to live on one income in the modern economy.

Some Things Everyone Should Know About Divorce

What marriage really is as far as the government is concerned… a financial contract with a state mandated asset allocation in the event of divorce. Do you really want the state’s one-size-fits-all guidelines? Yeah no, get a pre-nup/maintain a post-nup and then stash it in a filing cabinet and assume you’ll never have to use it.

Social Security contributions (and payouts!) are relative to earned income… and fucks over stay-at-home parents, particularly in the event of divorce. In order to receive any Social Security benefits based on your ex-spouse, you have to have been married for at least 10 years AND you can never marry anyone else…. did we mention that the average length of marriage in the US is 8.2 years?

Pensions that are not vested at the time of divorce (meaning they will reach their true full value at a later date, aka upon retirement) ARE considered marital assets and should be equitably divided after having a valuation done to estimate the vested value.

• The Two Income Trap | Book by Elizabeth Warren & Amelia Warren Tyagi
• Spousal IRA
• Bankruptcy is a tool! We talk about this more extensively in an upcoming episode we recorded Live At The Fig!
• The Couples Financial Coach Podcast – episode featuring Yulin Lee
• Frugalwoods sharing their experience with having children while combatting the “Baby Industrial Complex”
• Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism | Book by Kristen R. Ghodsee