A second marriage is a chance for women to revise their role in the financial planning of the household if they took a back seat during the first marriage, according to financial advisor Paula Mogan.

Married women often abdicate the long-term financial decisions to a spouse, particularly in a first marriage. Remarriage is a time to take back some of that power, said Mogan, who specializes in advising women in their 50s and 60s who are starting a new phase of their lives. Mogan is an advisor with Mogan Wealth Management of UBS in Rockland, Mass., which she operates with her two sons, David and Timothy, and is a CFP and Accredited Domestic Partner Advisor.

According to UBS data, nine out of 10 divorced or widowed women felt good about themselves as they made financial decisions on their own, which confirms the fact that being in charge of your own finances can be empowering, Mogan said in a recent interview.

Many women believe their spouses have more knowledge about finances than they do, she said. When they are on their own they learn to make those decisions themselves.

“The first thing you must have when starting a life with a new spouse is complete transparency,” Mogan said. “Often both spouses have families from the first marriage and also have financial entanglements. For the women, understand your own situation, and then understand the spouse’s.”

The second marriage is an opportunity to lay all your cards on the table, she added.

Decisions should be made about how money will be divided between each persons’ children and whether there are any pensions or other payments that have to go to the first spouse. When everything is laid out ahead of time, it avoids conflicts in the future, she explained.

The couple may want to consider having three bank accounts – mine, yours and ours. They should decide what is discretionary income and what is nondiscretionary, she added. This is particularly important if one person is a spender and the other a saver. The couple should take stock of what they have from the prior situations and any debts that exist, such as college debt for themselves or their children.

Estate plans should be reviewed by an estate attorney to make sure that children, grandchildren and charities receive the money that each spouse intends.

“These things are just as important for a couple of modest means, as they are for a wealthy couple,” she said.

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