The Uncomfortable Thing You Need to Talk About Before You Get Married

A financial expert breaks down how to get through tax season unscathed, including how to prep, when to file jointly and the best ways to optimize your refund.

’Tis the season—for taxes. Listen, we know shuffling through IRS forms and deciphering a new tax code is one of the least enticing ways to kick off newlywed life (especially if you just returned from your honeymoon and finally wrapped up thank-you notes). But if you haven’t already, it’s time to get down to business filing your first tax return as a married couple. Have questions? We have answers, thanks to Jeff Motske, president and CEO of Trilogy Financial and author of The Couple's Guide to Financial Compatibility. Here’s what first-time newlyweds need to know this tax season.

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When Jill Caponera was 25, she moved from New York to Los Angeles. That’s when the money trouble began.

“The cost of moving and everything that goes along with a move are kind of how my financial pitfalls started,” Caponera says. “I was looking for work for quite a few months, and once I found work, I wasn’t being completely responsible with my credit card.”

Before she knew it, she had $5,000 in credit-card debt, and her credit score had plummeted to 600. “It seemed like out of nowhere it snowballed out of control,” she says. “It made me really stressed out and worried about how long it was going to take me to pay off this debt.”

But now, five years later, Caponera, now a senior PR manager with Promocodes.com, has $20,000 with a credit score of 805. She’s planning to start mortgage shopping soon, and has been told she’s “highly qualified.”

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