Relationships Talk

Cohabitation is on the rise in America and not just for millennials.

About 18 million Americans were living with an unmarried partner in 2016, according to the Pew Research Center. Although roughly half of those living together are younger than 35, the research center says that cohabitation is also rising quickly among the over 50 set.

As they say, love is love. But as more Americans are living together without getting married, experts worry that couples are not preparing themselves for their financial futures.

“If you are living together and not married it is more complicated than if you are married,” says Nancy L. Skeans, CEO of Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors.

The CPA and CFP regularly councils clients to prepare for their financial futures. Her number one piece of advice? If you are going to move in with your boyfriend or girlfriend, have the finance talk first.

Meet with a local financial advisor. 

“Sit down with a financial advisor in your home state,” says Skeans. Laws surrounding property and assets, as well as common law marriage, vary widely across the United States. Before moving in with a partner, it’s critical to know what your state’s property laws dictate. These issues become even more complicated when it comes to children.

“As long as people are happy in a relationship and want to stay together, these things don’t matter that much,” admits Skeans. But you should be prepared for the worst. “You don’t want to be in court fighting against people who are not your in-laws because you didn’t get married.”

Build your own “f*** off” fund before moving in.

Although the term was originally coined for workplace-related snafus, a personal ‘f*** off’ fund is key for smart cohabitation.

“If you don’t have enough saved to afford your own place for a while, you might find yourself staying in a bad relationship because you can’t afford to break up,” says Tanja Hester, author of “Work Optional: Retire Early the Non-Penny-Pinching Way” and the blogger behind Our Next Life. Hester went through a cohabitation break up  previously, and says that she stayed longer than she wanted due to financial reasons.

“After that, I definitely resolved to build up an emergency fund so that I would always have the ability to choose whether to stay in a relationship or leave based solely on non-financial reasons,” says Hester.

Start with separate bank accounts.

The debate around separate and joint finances is tricky to navigate and can become even more complicated for partners who are cohabiting. There are a whole host of questions like:

If one person makes more than the other, should they cover more of the rent?

If one partner works from home needs a second bedroom for their office, are they responsible for covering that extra square footage?

If one person takes care of more household chores than the other, should they contribute less monetarily?

These are all ideas you should discuss with your partner. But when you first move in, experts recommend to open a joint account for mutual expenses  and keep your personal accounts separate.

“Keeping finances separately makes things easier for a variety of money transactions including applying for a mortgage, credit card, ‎or other loan, tax return preparation and financial planning, purchasing or leasing a vehicle, and forming a new business,” says Harvey Bezozi, CFP and Founder of YourFinancialWizard.com “If a decision is eventually made to combine financial matters, implementation should be done slowly and meticulously, using simple yet detailed written agreements, to ensure that communications are clear and there are no misunderstandings over the long-term.”

Another potential financial land mine is the credit card.

Skeans advises to be careful opening joint credit cards as you could be liable for your partner’s shopping spree long after the break up .

The bottom line with cohabitation and money is that you need to talk to your partner early and often. Know your state’s laws and make sure your money is protected. Since you don’t have the built-in legal safety net of marriage, it’s important to walk into your partnership with your financial eyes wide open.

To be successful, every business has to tell its stories. These days, such stories are usually told through posting content online in blogs, articles and social media. But just pushing content onto the web is meaningless if it doesn’t interest the audience. In an online world bursting with billions and billions of pages of content — with new content being added every minute — how do you ensure you’re creating compelling content that generates views?

Whether it’s defining the details that will capture interest, timing your posts to grab the most views or choosing the right venue for your message, there are strategies that will help your online voice be heard. Ten members of Young Entrepreneur Council offer insights on producing and posting content that will resonate right away and down the road.

As a printing company, our target companies are other businesses that need printed collateral, as well as individuals that have a specific need. Content about our latest printer is not effective. However, design tips or examples for wedding invitations, how-tos, or graphic design tips for other businesses will create value that organically leads to sales. Your content does not have to revolve specifically around your goods or services. Rather, cross-pollenating your content into the desired industries you would like to sell to is an effective way to create value and sales. – Brandon Stapper, Nonstop Signs

2. Choose The Best Platform For Each Message

Different channels accomplish different types of engagement. Facebook is great for showing company culture. We find images and behind-the-scenes videos get the most likes and shares. For Twitter, we’re testing tweets that are story driven; you create a thread, and each tweet links to different content that threads up around a point. This is a great way to repurpose multiple pieces of content, and it drives conversation with people commenting on tweets. Instagram is obviously image and video driven. The trick with Instagram is choosing the right hashtag to get the right visibility. If you’re looking for leads, you’ll need users to download an asset that’s useful. We’ve been doing checklists on how to do something accompanied by a case study that proves it works. – Kerry Guard, MKG Marketing

3. Write Step-By-Step Guides

I’ve noticed that some of our best content is how-to guides that show users a step-by-step process on how to implement something on their own website. This has helped gear us to becoming more of a resource-based blog where customers can find information on how to make their own sites better. Find out what guides your customers want and write a detailed, step-by-step process that will help them. You can even turn some of your most popular ones into content upgrades in exchange for email addresses. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

4. Round Up The Experts

When producing content, a helpful strategy is to include experts with relevant experience on the particular topic you are producing content around. By including these experts and their take on a specific issue, you’re providing them with a platform to share their thoughts and ideas and increasing your chances of them sharing your content with their audience — “seeding” the content with additional readers. If the content is well-received, the results will compound from there. – Brandon Pindulic, OpGen Media

5. Answer The Questions You’re Always Asked

Answering tough questions about our industry has been a boon for traffic to our site. Some of our top-performing pieces are articles on how much an app costs to build and on how much money an app can make. Think about the questions clients or potential clients ask you all the time, and then go and create blog posts to answer those questions. – Ryan D Matzner, Fueled

6. Take On Trending Topics In Your Industry

I’ve noticed that the content that tends to get the most engagement on my company’s blog and my social media channels is around topics that are disruptive to the industry. For example, in the digital marketing industry, some of my most shared and engaging content dealt with new trends, such as voice search and mobile AMP (accelerated mobile pages). The keys for greater engagement and cultivating thought leadership are to provide helpful context and actionable information that empowers your readers. Don’t be a journalist, be a thought leader instead! – Kristopher Brian Jones, LSEO.com

7. Pitch Solutions, Not Products

No one wants to hear your sales pitch. No one is as excited about your product as you are. What they want to see is someone like them who’s struggling with the same issues. Then they want to see you fix those issues. Case study marketing is the way to go. It’s organic, it’s not just about you and others want to share it. At Enlighten we spend a remarkable amount of time working with clients after the sale to follow up and document the successes. These successes become inspiration for others that see them. Case studies have people asking you for help rather than you asking them for business. – Jeremy Jacobs, Enlighten

8. Integrate Insightful Interviews

Interviews are a great way to generate traffic to your site. Find people in your industry to interview and send them a few questions. You can then post your article in a question-answer format and optimize it for SEO. The trick is to find people that your audience is interested in learning from and asking them questions the audience would like to know. You can create a poll on your site to find out who your audience would like featured on your site. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

9. Livestream For Authenticity

Content that receives the most engagement for us is livestreaming on Instagram. For instance, after I released my most recent book, I did a handful of Instagram livestreams with other entrepreneurs, and each segment received more engagement than any other type of content marketing we produced. Livestreaming is the most transparent way to showcase your knowledge and expertise without sounding scripted or rehearsed. – Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Creative Development Agency, LLC

10. Tap Into Holiday Spirit

Is there an important date or popular holiday coming up? Injecting your brand (in an authentic way) allows you to take advantage of its popularity. Posting content that taps into the interest of a given date almost always guarantees fantastic engagement. Holidays such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day are obviously days you want to take advantage of. You can also time your content to coincide with the release of a popular movie or more niche holidays, such as “National French Fry Day” or “Star Wars Day.” Timing your content to highlight special days allows for predictability. It’s simple, and you can easily track results. It also allows you to tap into niche or international audiences that you may not otherwise reach. – Shu Saito, Fact Retriever

New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani’s daughter Isha Ambani and Ajay and Swati Piramal’s son Anand Piramal are getting married on December 12, 2018. It is reported that Isha and Anand’s wedding would take place in an extremely private affair in Mumbai. Indian weddings, as we all know, are filled with glitter, laughter, and of course, a lot of FOOD – no matter how small or lavish a wedding ceremony is. Generally, the winter season is jam-packed with weddings and most of us would have to keep fitting ourselves into that designer choli or sherwani. But with that never-ending buffet spread, there’s a good chance that you’ll overeat without being mindful of hunger or portions, sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

But who’s to blame them, considering the fact that Indians always go overboard with their food menus, especially when it comes to weddings. If you’re trying to slim down and avoid that ‘feeling of guilt’ or ‘distress’ afterwards, here are a few tips and tricks which would help you stick to a healthy diet and lose weight, perhaps, without missing on all the fun. Read – The Bride Diet: Best pre-wedding weight loss plan to slim down your tummy and waistline in just 2 weeks

Do not go on an empty stomach

Many of us have probably heard of this one – you should not go to a party empty stomach or you’ll find yourself overindulging without even realising it. Moreover, the buffet is filled with a variety of foods, including calorie-laden ones that can lead to weight gain. Make sure you have had something to munch on before you step out.

Choose foods carefully

While the unlimited buffet can make you pile up on all the food on your plate, opt for the low-fat dishes, which are better options and can keep your tummy healthier and happier as well. This will also help you enjoy the party without overeating.

Plan ahead

This is one common mistake that many make during the wedding season. The fact is that planning ahead is one of the best things you can do for your weight and overall health. A well-planned strategy will also help you restrict from the treats and eat small, frequent but healthy meals. While doing so, make sure to include nutrient-dense foods that are packed with antioxidants, fibre and protein in your daily diet. Not just your weight but your skin and hair will also thank you for this.

Keep your portions under control

Although you’ll be tempted with a variety of high-caloric, not-so-healthy options, ensure you engage in portion control by taking a slice of each food you really want to indulge. This will help you enjoy bites of each of your favourites without feeling so stuffed.

Watch what and how much you drink

So, you’re watching what you put on your plate right? The same rule applies here – your drink. According to health experts, beverages are probably the biggest source of empty calories in our diets, promoting weight gain. If you’re trying to lose weight, ensure you know what’s in that mug or glass, or perhaps, you would want to forgo the alcohol and focus on a conversation instead.

Hope the above suggested tips will help you eat healthy this wedding season, and not give you a big fat belly.

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purpose only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness programme or making any changes to your diet.