The new SAVE student loan repayment plan has a lot of great features. But if you're not careful, you might end up throwing money away on this payment plan. Tune into this week's episode to learn more.

If you want access to a spreadsheet to help run these calculations for your loans, head to https://newlywedfinancialsuccess.com/join

(PS: I had a particularly bad case of hand, foot, and mouth disease while recording this episode - my apologies if my voice sounds off!)

I don't often have guests on the Money and Marriage Podcast, but this week's episode is the exception to the rule.

I'm excited to welcome Alicia Krasko to the show. I asked Alicia to be on the podcast both because she is a fantastic resource for families with children from prior marriages, but also because she is exceptionally transparent with some of the financial challenges and hurdles she faced after getting married. If you have stepkids, Alicia will be an invaluable resource for you. If you don't, she has a ton of great insights about navigating family relationship dynamics and financial perspectives as you enter marriage.

And be sure to check out my interview with Alicia on her podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/8-talking-financial-planning-with-bill-nelson/id1698216989?i=1000626785436

Alicia's bio:

Alicia Krasko is a Stepmom Coach dedicated to helping stepmoms gain confidence and define their role in their blended family. She is the founder of The Stepmom Side Community-a private, off social media community for Stepmoms who are looking for additional support. 

Alicia’s story goes from a single life to embracing a blended family when she met her husband, who had two children from a previous relationship. Her initial optimism turned into a challenging reality as she grappled with her new role as a stepmom.

As an outgoing person, Alicia found herself becoming a shell of her former self, struggling to find her place in this blended family dynamic. The lack of control and feeling like second best weighed heavily on her, causing her to question her marriage and even contemplate leaving.

However, Alicia's story is one of resilience and growth. Instead of surrendering to the difficulties, she learned to embrace and work with the challenges, accepting that life wouldn't always be black and white. Through her journey of self-discovery, she transformed into a dedicated stepmom coach, helping others navigate the complexities of step-parenting and finding strength in the process.

The Stepmom Side Community: https://aliciakrasko.com/community

Instagram: https://instagram.com/aliciakrasko

Back in episode 97, we covered common mistakes I often see couples make with Roth IRAs. After this episode went live, I got a listener question about opening Roth IRAs for children. I respond to that question in this week's episode.

For the first time in three and a half years, payments will be required for Federal student loans starting in October. For most engaged and newlywed couples, this will be the first time they've ever had to figure out how to handle their loans as a married couple.

In this episode, I share three overarching strategies to consider as your loans enter repayment. I'm hosting a free, live, deep-dive student loan training on September 6th at 9 PM Eastern, which you can register for here: https://newlywedfinancialsuccess.com/studentloans

The logistics and emotions involved in your family's financial plan can be a little more complicated when you and your spouse have (very) different incomes. In this week's episode, we discuss a few different strategies to handle these differences.

To learn more, pick up a copy of my book Marriage-Centered Money and/or Farnoosh Torabi's book When She Makes More: 10 Rules for Breadwinning Women

If you're in a rush to make big financial changes - especially if you've been struggling to do so for awhile - you should consider making your next step forward a smaller one. Tune into this week's episode to learn more.

In this episode, I walk through a great exercise to use when you fight about money. To learn other strategies for reducing money fights, check out my book Marriage-Centered Money: Get on the Same Financial Page and Achieve Your Life Goals Together at https://marriagecenteredmoney.com/book

The right bank account structure will solve a lot of financial challenges for your family, all else equal. And this includes maintaining your savings rate while being able to go on vacation. Turn into this week's episode to learn my favorite strategy to keep vacations and holiday travel from slowing down your financial progress.

Very few subjects come with as much emotional weight as money does. And unfortunately, emotions about non-financial topics often drive poor financial decisions. In this episode, I discuss why it's a bad idea to try to surpress your financial emotions, and what you should do instead.

If you want to learn more, I recommend going back to Episode 44 of this podcast, where we discuss a therapeutic framework for how to handle money and emotions in more detail: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6yxIZU7E9waigYo3xp4dtT?si=aWJ5NAUYRsyJfmeLxNkxwQ

I manage my personal finances in the same way I advise my clients to manage theirs. (You'd think that would be a given, but sadly, it's not always the case in my industry). But about a year ago, I realized there was one big exception to this rule. In this episode, Idiscuss that exception, and how it led me to restructure my business and create the Newlywed Money Bootcamp.

To learn more about the bootcamp, head to http://newlywedfinancialsuccess.com/bootcamp