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Senior Couples: Getting Married and Building a Life Together

Getting married is a momentous occasion. It’s undoubtedly joyous, yes, but it’s a big commitment and signifies major change. This is especially true when you’re in your golden years. You and your partner have settled lives by now and like doing things a particular way. Most likely you both have fixed personalities too. Making room for someone new, and a new way of doing things can be a challenge. It’s a good sort of challenge to have, though.

To help you out, see this mini-guide from Harmonia Collaborative Care on navigating married life and building a life together as a senior couple:

Discuss each other’s values

Marriage is more than sharing your home with someone — it’s working toward the same goals and living life in alignment with each other’s values. People tend to have different values, meaning they don’t always share beliefs, motivations, and things they find meaningful. You must know where you and your partner stand on the important things in life — such as money, family, and dreams. If you have differing opinions, you need to find common ground or compromise.

Manage your finances and estate

You need to get on the same page as far as your finances are concerned too. You should, ideally, be transparent about your finances. Lay down your cards on the table, look at each other’s assets and debts, and figure out how you’re going to make your future financial decisions. How will you share bills, will you have a joint bank account, and how will you contribute to the household maintenance?

Find the right home

Consider finding a new dream home together. This could be a place you would both be happy spending your lives together. Also, home shopping will give you a chance to bond and understand each other better. Personal preferences are always important when you’re looking for a home, but don’t forget to consider factors like the location, amenities, neighborhood, and upkeep and maintenance.

Plan for long-term care

Long-term healthcare is an important consideration. You may need to sign up for a healthcare plan that covers you both. The median cost of long-term care in a private room in a nursing home was $108,405 in 2021, reports CNBC, which isn’t something most couples can afford out-of-pocket. Debt.org offers a long list of healthcare options for seniors that are worth checking out. For help exploring your options, work with a Harmonia Senior Care Manager to find the right path for you.

When planning long-term care, you’ll want to have all your medical files together in one place. That’s easy to do with a digital tool to add pages to PDF files. Once you upload a file, it’s a simple process to add, delete, or reorder pages. Once you have them arranged to your preference, you can download the new file or link to it online.

Travel together or pursue hobbies

Traveling together is a great way to get to know your partner on a deeper level and build up trust. It allows you to find out what makes them tick and how they are likely to handle stress and challenges. You could also pick up shared hobbies like dancing, cooking classes, or whatever else that stokes your interest. This will allow you to spend time together constructively and allow you to bond over a common interest.

Start a business together

Starting a business with your new spouse can be a wonderful way to spend your time together as well as allow you to pad out your income. Find a common area of interest, come up with a business plan, and register your business. To successfully market your business, you will need a brand identity. You and your spouse could design a business logo together, another activity to help you bond. It’s as easy as picking a logo maker that’s free to use, choosing a style and icon, adding in text, choosing from an assortment of logos, and finding good fonts and colors.

Conclusion

Having a successful marriage is all about communicating effectively. It’s how you and your partner stay on the same page, keep your conflicts from blowing out of proportion, and generally keep the relationship moving forward. Focus on keeping your communication healthy and you are bound to have a successful, long-lasting marriage.