Good News: You’re richer now than you’ve been in years

By Dian Vujovich

Forget weeping about the market losses of the past few years as the tide continues to turn and U.S. households—and nonprofit organizations—are awash in moola.

I know, you’ve heard that before but when things are good the good just keeps on coming. Plus, add to that personal bit of good news the fact that S&P has just raised the outlook on their U.S. sovereign debt rating from not-so-hot to stable and it’s a good time to celebrate.

Last week the Federal Reserve announced that during the first three months of this year, 2013, assets such as the value of our homes, money in stocks and other investments minus our debts were indeed something to crow about: They jumped $3 trillion to about  $70.4 trillion. That’s the biggest jump since 1945 when that organization began reporting this kind of data.

As for celebrating, any rise—or fall—in household wealth is cause for concern for anyone considering meshing households, as in getting married. That ole “till death due us part” part of the  wedding vows has for some been unconsciously replaced with “till the money runs out”.

So, given that this is the month of marriages, I ran across a story from U.S. News & World Report titled,  ”5 Money Questions to Ask Before You Marry”.

Of course they forgot the first and most important one for Palm Beachers: Have you had your attorney draw up a prenup yet?

But other than that, the questions a loving couple ought to consider before saying their  I-do’s means exposing some of the deepest financial secrets many lovers have keep under wraps during their courtship.

Nonetheless, since marriage winds up being as much of a business relationship as it does anything else, the questions are:

-How much debt do you have? (Ouch!)

-What’s your credit score? (Oooo!)

•What about our children? (Hoe many?)

•What about our parents? (Your parents, really?)

•Who is paying what? (Huh?)

My comments aside, any couple that spends a few days mulling the answers to those questions,  coming up with honest responses and workable resolutions will  likely find less money hassles in their years together—- no matter if the markets make them richer or poorer.