The most important thing to think about if you’re asking when it would be the best time to get married in terms of money is that you should not be getting married just for money. While it should definitely be a consideration when you and your fiancée are considering when you should get married, it should not be the reason that you do. Marriages should be based as soundly as possible if you do not want them to end up in divorce – consider the high divorce rate among couples.
Therefore, the first thing that you should look for before you decide to get married is whether or not you are in debt. If there is a lot of outstanding debt on either you or your fiancée’s record, then you should seriously consider putting the wedding off until this debt is paid off. That way you won’t need to worry about sharing debt – or making it worse after the marriage. Another reason that you should eliminate your debt first is that there are costs that will be associated with getting married in the first place – and it’s likely that hidden costs might show up afterward.
You should also make sure that both you and your fiancée have been living on your own for a few years prior to the marriage. That way, you can be sure that you know how to deal with money. Some marriages have been ruined (or at least plunged into far too much debt) because one or both of the members can’t deal with money properly. You should also consider living together for a few months or a year in order to make sure that you don’t experience any extra strain doing so.
Essentially, the right time to get married – money wise, is when both of the people who are thinking about getting married are responsible adults who have experience living on their own and paying their own bills. It is also best if both people are reasonably employed and do not have too much out of control debt. While a student loan that is in the process of being paid off is not a problem, you should definitely be wary of getting married if one of you has a lot of credit card debt.