Prenup or No Prenup? How we share finances (part 1)

Right before we got married, Tyler gently brought up the idea of a prenup. And Angie, equally gently, brushed it off. 🧹

It wasn’t because she was hurt or offended—it’s just that, well, she didn’t have much to protect. 😅

Six years ago, when we first started dating, Angie was finishing her Master’s program with a grand total of zero (yes, zero!) in her 401k or investments. 🐒

Her entire net worth was a few thousand dollars her parents in Vietnam scraped together to help her get through school.

By the time we were talking marriage, Angie had been working for just over a year.

Savings? Not much. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Inheritance? Not expected. 🙅🏻‍♀️

After all the sacrifices her parents made, she was determined not to take a penny from them.

So, naturally, the idea of a prenup didn’t even cross her mind—she had no skin in the game. 😔

As for Tyler? He had just graduated from the same Master’s program. His situation was slightly better.

Despite his $45k salary in NYC before grad school, he had this odd urge to max out his retirement accounts every year. (Thank God for whatever compelled him 🙏)

So the prenup conversation quickly fizzled out, 🫥 and we went into marriage merging our finances completely, prenup-free. 🤵🏼‍♂️👰🏻

Young and broke, but head over heels in love 🥰.

Somehow, as we grew, our money did too. 🤭

With the right partner (and tips from this newsletter 😉), we stroll toward Financial Freedom together.

In this letter 💌, we’ll share about:

• How we protect our family and simplify finances when we're not around. 😇

We've been on 20 flights ✈️ this year, with a few more still to come.

Every time the plane drops during turbulence, 🌪️ Angie panics, 🙉 but quickly finds peace knowing our loved ones will be taken care of. 😮‍💨

If something were to happen to us *knocks on wood*, we don’t want our family, already dealing with grief, to have to untangle complicated finances too.

We want them cared for, even when we can’t be there—so we planned for that.

1. Create an estate planning

What is estate planning?

It ensures your assets go to the right people, avoids legal hassles for your loved ones, and reduces taxes.

Making sure your family is taken care of and everything is handled smoothly when you’re not around. 💀 *knocks on wood again*

Last year, we met with a trust & will attorney to set up our estate plan.

Since we don’t have dependents, we kept it simple with just a will.

But if you have kids, a trust is worth considering.

You don’t want to drop a huge sum of money on a child who’s just lost their parent(s) and expect them to know what to do with it.

It’s a simple process. Two meetings with the attorney and about $800 (2023 prices).

But it covers more than just money. We also set up:

• Durable Powers of Attorney
• Health Care Directives
• Community Property Agreements

We did it because we love our family and want to take care of them—whether we're here or not. 😇😇

2. Get life insurance for both of us

When did we realize we both needed life insurance?—The moment we got our first mortgage. 💸🫠 For others, it might be when you have your first kid.

Why do couples need life insurance?—Simple, if something happens to one of you, the other isn’t left juggling bills, mortgages, or even daycare fees solo.

It gives us peace of mind knowing our partner (or kids) will be financially covered, even if life throws a curveball. *continuously knocks on wood* 💞

That’s it for today. More couple finance tips coming your way in the next newsletter! 💌

Hope it's helpful for your journey to Freedom 🙏

Love you to freedom and back, 🫰

Angie & Tyler

Things We are Loving Right Now ❤️‍🔥

🌳 Lighter on our planet

• September always seems packed with birthdays and anniversaries!  A few of those belong to Tyler’s parents 🎁 (as mentioned in the last newsletter).

  Last year, we threw them a 'surprise' party—though the only surprise was the decorations. 😅

  After seeing all those balloons, we couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about the environmental impact. 🌍 So this year, we switched to this eco-friendly set! 💚

  It was such a hit that Angie even suggested her sister’s boyfriend use the same set for her birthday surprise. 🤭