Getting married changes your tax return, your retirement accounts, your health insurance and who inherits from you, mostly on the day of the wedding. Most couples don’t need ongoing money management for this. They need one plan that lines up two financial lives, which fee-only planners price at a median $2,000 for a one-time plan.
The rules that change when you marry
Your tax brackets. For 2026, the standard deduction for a joint return is $32,200, exactly double the $16,100 for a single filer. The joint brackets are double the single ones up to the 35% rate, so two people with similar incomes rarely pay more by marrying. The exception is at the top: the 37% rate starts at $768,700 of joint taxable income, well short of twice the $640,600 single threshold.
Roth IRA limits. Direct Roth IRA contributions phase out between $242,000 and $252,000 of income on a joint return in 2026, against $153,000 to $168,000 for a single filer. Two people earning $150,000 each could both contribute while single; married, at $300,000 together, they can’t contribute directly. File separately and the phase-out is $0 to $10,000, so that rarely helps. A backdoor Roth is the usual answer.
A spouse who isn’t earning can still save. A working spouse’s pay can support an IRA for a spouse with little or no income, up to the $7,500 limit for 2026.
Your spouse has rights to your 401(k). In most workplace plans, your spouse is the beneficiary by law unless they sign a written waiver. An agreement made before the marriage doesn’t satisfy that rule, so a prenup can’t do it alone. The waiver has to be signed after the wedding.
Health insurance has a deadline. A workplace plan must give you at least 30 days after the marriage to add a spouse. On the Marketplace you usually have 60 days. Miss it and you wait for open enrollment. Most workplace plans also let you change flexible spending elections mid-year after a marriage.
Family health savings. If you’re on a high-deductible family plan, the 2026 HSA limit is $8,750 for family coverage, against $4,400 for self-only.
Selling a home. A married couple filing jointly can exclude up to $500,000 of gain on a main home, double the $250,000 for a single filer. Both spouses must have lived in it for two of the last five years to get the full amount.
Gifts between spouses. Gifts to a spouse who’s a US citizen are free of gift tax in any amount. For a spouse who isn’t a citizen, the 2026 limit is $194,000 a year.
Common mistakes
- Leaving old beneficiaries on accounts. A 401(k), IRA or life policy pays whoever is named on the form, not whoever your will names. Parents, a sibling or an ex are often still listed. See beneficiary designations.
- Not adjusting withholding. Two earners who each withhold as single can come up short at tax time. Each of you should update your W-4.
- Comparing health plans by premium only. If you both have workplace coverage, compare deductibles, networks and employer HSA deposits before choosing one plan or keeping two.
- Merging everything, or nothing. Couples get into trouble when nobody agrees who pays what. Decide which costs are shared and how they’re split, by income or evenly.
- Skipping the debt conversation. Student loans, credit cards and credit scores come into the marriage. If either of you is on an income-driven student loan plan, how you file can change the payment. A planner who works on student loans can run both versions.
- No will, no powers of attorney. If one of you is in a hospital, a spouse doesn’t automatically get control of the other’s accounts. A financial power of attorney and a health-care proxy fix that, and a revocable living trust can keep a house out of probate.
Questions to answer as a couple
- What does each of us earn, owe and own, including retirement accounts and equity pay?
- Which bills are shared, and how do we split them?
- What are we saving for in the next five years: a house, a child, a career change?
- How much can each of us spend without asking the other?
- Who’s named on each account, policy and will right now?
- If one of us stopped working, could we live on the other income?
Writing down the answers is half of what a planner does in the first meeting. It also makes that meeting cheaper.
When a fee-only advisor is worth it
A planner earns their fee for a newly married couple when there’s something to coordinate:
- Two sets of workplace benefits to choose between: health plans, 401(k) matches, life and disability cover.
- Income near a limit that marriage changes, such as the Roth IRA phase-out.
- Big debts or big assets on one side, such as student loans, a house, a business or stock options.
- A second marriage, or children from before. That’s a different plan. Our guide to blended family financial planning covers it.
If you both have simple finances, a few hours of hourly advice may be enough. Either way, choose a fee-only planner: they’re paid only by you, so their advice on insurance and investing isn’t tied to a sale.
What it costs
| How you pay | Typical cost (US median) | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly | $300 an hour | A few questions: filing, accounts, which health plan |
| One-time plan | $2,000 | Lining up two financial lives in one written plan |
| Ongoing planning fee | $4,500 a year | Couples with equity pay, a business or plans for a house and children soon |
These are prices fee-only firms publish on their own websites, from the Wellspent fee report. The middle half of one-time plans cost $845 to $3,600. See what a one-time plan costs and what subscription planning costs for what each usually includes.
Questions to ask a planner
- Will you meet with both of us, and treat us as one client?
- Will you look at both of our workplace benefits side by side?
- Will you check every beneficiary form and tell us what to change?
- How do you charge for this, and what would our plan cost?
- Do you or your firm earn anything other than what we pay you?
The last answer should be no. Check it on the SEC’s adviser search, and see questions to ask a financial advisor for how to judge the rest.
Where to look
In the public graph, start with advisors for early-career professionals or HENRYs, high earners not rich yet, the tax planning specialty, or the lists of advisors for early-career professionals, advisors for HENRYs and flat-fee advisors. When a baby is on the way, our guide to financial planning for a new baby picks up from here.