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When you wed, you become one. This includes your personal finances. Most newlyweds enter matrimony with their own incomes, assets, investments and retirement savings. Combining the two can sometimes be a challenge – both logistically and emotionally. The first step to planning your personal finances as a newlywed couple is to have a frank, open discussion about your respective philosophies about personal finances. Once you have reached an understanding, do the following:

Change your beneficiaries. When you planned your own personal finances, you likely left a relative or a parent as a beneficiary on your 401(k), savings accounts, IRAs, insurance policies and other accounts. Now that you are married, you’ll want your spouse to be named as the beneficiary to avoid disputes in the event of your death.

Reevaluate your insurance coverage. An important part of personal finances for newlyweds is cutting costs. Chances are, one of you will have better benefits than the other. Take time to pare down the costlier options which provide less coverage and retain portions of your health benefits that don’t overlap.

Change your name. Having the right name on paper is important to personal finances for newlyweds. This will help you open joint accounts, cash checks made out to “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and help the IRS sort out your tax responsibilities.

Update your will. Better to do it now than later. This can lay out your personal finances priorities in the event of your death unambiguously early on.

Check your credit history. Newlyweds sorting out their personal finances should check their credit histories and discuss any negative items or outstanding debt. This may be a good time to discuss hiring a financial planner or credit counselor.

Budget. Now that you’ll be living together, you’ll want to be on the same page as far as personal finances go. Take time to figure out how much you’ll be saving and how much you’ll be spending.

Decide on how personal finances will be handled. This is important. There is no right way for married couples to handle personal finances – you can have one spouse be in charge of a joint account or have separate accounts. The important thing is to clearly define the roles and make an agreement.

Assign responsibility for bills. Choose which person will be responsible for handling certain aspects of personal finances. This way, there won’t be any confusion over who was supposed to pay the utility bills or renew the cable subscription.

Merging personal finances is often the first truly trying trial for newly married couples. But rather than putting off the touchy subject of personal finances until it is too late, it is best to begin your new life on solid, unambiguous ground. Speak openly about your goals for personal finances as well as your plans for retirement, education, children and other major purchases. Once you get the elephant out of the room that is the mystery of what to do about your personal finances, you can begin moving forward with the more enjoyable aspects of your marriage.