Thanksgiving Savings You’ll Actually Notice and Tax Filing Tips for Common Law Couples

Summary

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NerdWallet’s Smart Money Podcast

Thanksgiving Savings You’ll Actually Notice and Tax Filing Tips for Common Law Couples

Date: November 20, 2025
Hosts: Elizabeth Ayola, Anna Helhoski, Sean Pyles, Bella Avila

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Episode Overview

This episode of NerdWallet’s Smart Money Podcast delivers practical, research-driven advice to help listeners make the most of their Thanksgiving grocery budget and demystifies tax filing for couples considering (or entering) a common law marriage, with special emphasis on joint filing and the nuances in tax status. The show features real-world scenarios and detailed, actionable tips, maintaining an upbeat and accessible tone throughout.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Thanksgiving Dinner Costs and Practical Savings (00:46–10:43)

• Thanksgiving Dinner Is More Affordable This Year

  • Anna Helhoski kicks off with news: the American Farm Bureau Federation reports the average Thanksgiving dinner will cost $55.18, down 5% from the prior year. However, costs are still higher than pre-2022 highs.
    • “Overall Thanksgiving dinner is expected to cost consumers about $55.18. Now, that's about 5% less than last year.” (01:50 – Ana Helhoski)

• Why the Drop in Prices?

  • Overall food prices are up by 3% YoY, but Thanksgiving classics (turkey, stuffing, potatoes) are less affected than foods like beef and eggs, which saw higher inflation spikes and aren't key Thanksgiving ingredients.
  • “The big difference is that the food index includes all foods … the ones that have risen most dramatically in costs, like beef and eggs, aren’t typically included in the traditional Thanksgiving menu.” (02:38 – Ana Helhoski)

• Breakdown of Rising and Falling Item Prices

  • Stable: Pumpkin pie mix and pie shells.
  • Cheaper: Cubed stuffing, fresh cranberries, and dinner rolls.
  • More Expensive: Sweet potatoes (due to weather/crop issues) and some green veggies.
    • “Sweet potatoes are also more expensive this year, and that’s largely because hurricanes wiped out crops in North Carolina.” (03:48 – Ana Helhoski)

• Turkey Prices Hit a New Low

  • Despite avian flu-induced spikes in previous years, retailer discounts and lower wholesale prices mean a 16-pound bird averages $21.50—a 16% decrease from 2024.
    • “The Farm Bureau estimates a steep decrease. It found that a 16-pound turkey will cost an average of $21.50 this year, down 16% from 2024.” (04:40 – Ana Helhoski)

• Bundled Thanksgiving Meals: Convenience vs. Cost

  • Budget options: Aldi and Walmart meals for 10 at $40; Target’s $20 meal for four.
  • Splurge: Whole Foods offers $170 (for 8) or $400 (for 12); Harry and David ship a ready-made feast for $270 (8–10 people).
    • “Aldi and Walmart, which are both advertising $40 Thanksgiving meals for 10 people.” (05:43 – Ana Helhoski)

• Dining Out: Still Pricier

  • “CPI shows that eating away from home is up 3.7% from last year.” (06:30 – Elizabeth Ayola)

• Tariff Reductions: What to Expect

  • Recently announced tariff reductions (e.g., on beef, coffee, nuts) won’t yield immediate grocery savings due to contract/inventory lag.
    • “Tariff changes aren't going to instantly make items cheaper at your local grocery store. … More likely that those changes will come in the coming months.” (07:02 – Ana Helhoski)

• Strategies for a Bougie, Budget-Friendly Thanksgiving

  • Map out your menu and stick to it.
  • Opt for value where you can (canned or store-brand goods, compare brands, go potluck).
    • “Remember that store brands are often just as good and can save you money. … Compare, compare, compare.” (08:33 – Ana Helhoski and Elizabeth Ayola)
  • Bundling offers value (if you like all items included), but beware of the premium for convenience.
  • Use leftovers creatively for additional savings.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving.” (09:33 – Ana Helhoski)
• “Maybe, Ana, the thing that I’m looking forward to is not cooking Thanksgiving because I’m going to someone’s house.” (09:46 – Elizabeth Ayola)
• “There are rumors of a possible lasagna, too.” (10:33 – Anna Helhoski)
  • “Shut the front door.” (10:35 – Elizabeth Ayola)

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2. Tax Filing Tips for Common Law Couples (13:19–24:01)

Listener Question

Britt (Denver, CO) asks about common law marriage to add her partner to insurance and whether they should file their taxes jointly, with both partners having very different financial situations.

Key Explanations & Advice

• What Is Common Law Marriage? (14:06–14:55)

  • No ceremony or license, but legally recognized in some states (including CO)
  • Offers the same legal and financial benefits as traditional marriage (insurance, tax filing)
  • "Common law marriage ... is recognized by law, but you don't have to pay for a marriage license or have a ceremony." (14:06 – Sean)

• Tax Filing Statuses—Overview (14:55–15:51)

  • Five statuses: Single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, surviving spouse, head of household. Each with specific requirements and advantages.

• IRS Treatment of Common Law Marriages (15:51–16:18)

  • IRS treats common law and traditional marriage identically—as long as the state recognizes it.
  • Relocating can affect recognition and hence tax status.
    • “If you were to move states for any reason, your marriage might not be valid in the eyes of the IRS.” (15:59 – Bella Avila)

• Filing Jointly vs. Separately: Which to Choose? (16:33–18:05)

  • Joint filing is usually most beneficial, especially with disparate incomes—doubles standard deduction, lower tax rates.
  • Example: One high earner, one no income—a joint return keeps the higher earner in a lower tax bracket.
  • “Where the benefit really comes in, I think is for filers with really different incomes.” (16:50 – Bella Avila)

• Drawbacks to Filing Separately (18:21–19:08)

  • Loss of certain credits (child, education), stricter deduction rules (both must choose standard or itemized).
  • Designed to prevent couples from exploiting deductions.

• When Separate Filing Makes Sense (19:08–20:07)

  • Income-driven student loan repayment (could lower payments by reporting one income).
  • Major unreimbursed medical expenses (deductions easier to reach with single income).
  • If one spouse has tax debt or if there are trust issues/divorce in the mix.

• Practical Steps Before/After Common Law Marriage (20:15–21:35)

  • Plan for any name change with the tax timeline in mind.
  • Update W4 forms with your employer within 10 days of marriage.
  • “Processing a name change request can take quite a while ... so you might even think about holding off on a name change until after the deadline if it's pretty close.” (20:15 – Bella Avila)
  • Review income limits for tax-benefited accounts, and consider a cohabitation agreement.

• Prenups and Cohabitation Agreements(21:35–24:01)

  • Strongly recommended for couples with separate assets or nontraditional arrangements.
  • Not just for those anticipating separation—can prevent future conflicts and clarify expectations.
  • Insight into the cost/complexity (around $2,500, about a month to draft, much simpler than a divorce).
    • “The logistics were maybe the biggest hurdle ... it took about a month.” (23:03 – Sean)
  • “Really not that burdensome and a heck of a lot easier and cheaper than many divorces.” (23:54 – Sean)

Notable Quotes

• “All marriages are somewhat transactional, and also all marriages will come to an end eventually. So you might as well … make sure that you’re looking out for each other while you still love each other …” (21:52 – Sean)
• “These conversations are even more important as our norms for how couples think about finances and relationships shift.” (22:27 – Bella Avila)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Thanksgiving Price News & Breakdown: 00:46–06:00
• Ways to Save & Meal Planning Tips: 07:38–09:33
• Personal Thanksgiving Traditions: 09:46–10:43
• Listener Question on Common Law Marriage: 13:19–14:55
• Tax Filing Statuses Explained: 14:55–15:51
• Joint vs. Separate Filing Deep Dive: 16:33–18:05
• Cohabitation Agreements & Prenups: 21:35–24:01

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Tone and Language

The hosts maintain a conversational, friendly, and practical tone, using real anecdotes to ground advice (such as Sean’s own prenuptial experience). Explanations are straightforward, clear, and peppered with memorable, sometimes humorous, asides and banter.

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Summary

This episode covers how to effectively stretch your Thanksgiving food budget amid still-high grocery prices—with actionable shopping strategies and alternative meal options—before providing a comprehensive, accessible breakdown of tax filing choices for couples in common law marriages. The episode champions proactive planning—whether at the grocery store, in your relationship, or with your taxes—and encourages listeners to seek out both savings and smart legal protections as they build their financial future.

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Transcript

[Ana Helhoski]

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[Elizabeth Ayola]

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[Bella Avila]

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[Elizabeth Ayola]

I get an extra 5% off with my Nordstrom credit card Total queen treatment. Join the Nordy Club at Nordstrom Rack to unlock our best deals. Big gifts, big perks. That's why you rack. Getting married can change all kinds of things in your life, from wearing a band on your left finger to changing your last will and testament. It can also affect your tax status. And today we're going to look at how all that works, both in common law marriage and in, well, marriage marriage. Welcome to NerdWallet Smart Money podcast where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds. I'm Elizabeth Ayola. Later this episode, we'll be answering a question about common law, marriage and taxes. But first, our weekly money news roundup where we break down the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money. Our news colleague, Ana Helhoski is back. And Ana, we get to talk about food today. I'm a big foodie, so I'm excited. Hey, Ana.

[Ana Helhoski]

Hey, Elizabeth. And yeah, also a big fan of food. And today we're talking turkey and pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes. All the usual Thanksgiving suspects. And that's because, well, it's Thanksgiving next week. But also costs for the traditional holiday dinner are down this year after several years of inflation pushing up prices. Now there's some new data that came out yesterday from the American Farm Bureau Federation that shows that overall Thanksgiving dinner is expected to cost consumers about $55.18. Now, that's about 5% less than last year. It's a third straight year of annual decline, but costs are still higher now than they were before 2022, when the dinner hit a record high.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

I will take the lower cost. But wait, I thought food prices were up for everything.

[Ana Helhoski]

Yeah, let's back up. So food in general has been stickier than other spending categories. The Consumer Price Index or cpi, we've talked about it many times before. It's used to measure inflation and it shows that the Food price index is up 3% from a year ago. And that's according to its September report. We don't have the October report and we may never have the October report because of the government shutdown. But I digress. The big difference is that the food index includes all foods and the ones that have risen most dramatically in costs, like beef and eggs, aren't typically included in the traditional Thanksgiving menu.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

I never thought about the fact that I don't eat eggs during Thanksgiving, but now I am thinking about that.

[Ana Helhoski]

That's right.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

What items are included in that $55.18 cost on em?

[Ana Helhoski]

Everyone is gonna do their meal a little differently. But for the typical traditional Norman Rockwell spread, a Thanksgiving dinner includes ingredients like turkey, cubed stuffing, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, frozen peas, fresh cranberries, celery, carrots, pumpkin pie mix and crusts, whipping cream and whole milk.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

Got it. So what then is getting cheaper and what's getting more expensive?

[Ana Helhoski]

Well, I'll start with what hasn't changed. Pumpkin pie mix and pie shells are holding steady virtually unchanged from 2024. Now, some side dish staples are getting cheaper, and that includes cubed stuffing, fresh cranberries and dinner rolls. But five others are frozen green beans, a veggie tray of carrots and celery, whole milk and whipping cream. Now, sweet potatoes are also more expensive this year, and that's largely because hurricanes wiped out crops in North Carolina. And North Carolina produces more than half of the nation's sweet potatoes. And that was a fact I didn't know. But it is a reminder of how prices for produce can swing due to all kinds of setbacks, but most importantly, weather.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

That's the fact I like too, because I love sweet potatoes and I buy them all the time. Same good to know they're from North Carolina. All right. Now how about the star of the show? The turkey prices were pretty high in the last few years because of the avian flu.

[Ana Helhoski]

Since October 2024, wholesale turkey prices shot up 75%. And that's mainly due to the avian flu that first appeared in early 2022. Now, wholesale prices are still elevated, but Purdue University's agricultural economists say that retailer discounts may be significant this year, and that means that customers can save on their turkeys. And the Farm Bureau says that the turkey typically accounts for an average 43% of the total dinner costs. But this year it's only going to account for 39%, and they said that's the lowest share since 2000. Now, as far as the actual price, the Farm Bureau estimates a steep decrease. It found that a 16 pound turkey will cost an average of $21.50 this year, down 16% from 2024. So that's pretty significant.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

That is, I love the sound of $21 for an entire turkey. Now, obviously everyone is different when it comes to what they want to skimp and splurge on. And for some people, buying a la carte isn't the way to go. So what kind of bundles are retailers.

[Ana Helhoski]

Offering if you want someone else to do the work for you? When it comes to picking ingredients or even cooking the entire meal, some retailers are offering meals to shoppers. Now, on the lowest end of costs are Aldi and Walmart, which are both advertising $40 Thanksgiving meals for 10 people.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

Wow.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Ana Helhoski]

Yeah, I thought that was pretty low. And Target also has a $20 meal for four. Now, on the higher side of things, Whole Foods is offering a $170 meal for eight or about $400 for 12. So a lot higher. And if you really want to splurge without cooking or going to a restaurant, then Harry and David will ship you a ready to heat Thanksgiving meal for roughly $270. And that feeds eight to 10 people. I will point out that right now it might be too late to order some of these.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

Absolutely. But you can think about it ahead of next year. And as a girl who does not like to cook during the holidays, I like the sound of a ready made meal. Now, going out is an option that a lot of people choose. And there are tons of Thanksgiving buffets and pre fixed deals out there. But just for your information, the CPI shows that eating away from home is up 3.7% from last year. Ana, we also need to talk about tariffs because the Trump administration just rolled back several food related tariffs last week. Will that impact Thanksgiving grocery prices?

[Ana Helhoski]

As you said, last week, President Trump issued an executive order lowering tariffs on hundreds of food products. And that includes things like beef, coffee, bananas, coconuts, nuts, avocados, tomatoes, cocoa, frozen juice, and a range of spices. The order did indicate that US Production can't alone meet domestic demand, which makes sense. But tariff changes aren't going to instantly make items cheaper at your local grocery store. Retailers and importers are going to need time to rearrange their contracts and work through existing inventory. So it's more likely that those Changes will come in the coming months.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

All right. For those looking to trim their Thanksgiving bill but still have a bougie meal, there are a few things people can do. Kimberly Palmer, one of our senior writers here at NerdWallet, suggests making a solid meal plan that maps out your dishes and their ingredients so you're not adding items you really don't need.

[Ana Helhoski]

Right. Keep it simple.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

Stick to what you know your guests will care about. Do they actually want fresh cranberry sauce, or will the cheaper canned version do?

[Ana Helhoski]

Yeah, I know personally that I want my cranberry sauce served as a cylinder. And if you're having trouble figuring out how to slim down your ingredient list, actually using the AI tool like ChatGPT, Google, Gemini, or Anthropics Claude can make it a lot easier for you to generate recipes. I'll also say that going potluck is a totally reasonable option depending on the crowd that you're serving. And even if it's just everyone brings a side or a dessert and then it can add a little bit more variety to the table and save you some money.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

I actually love potlucks, and I usually bring a dish to someone's house, whether it's a dinner or the holidays, so that's something I'm definitely here for. When you're in the store, remember that store brands are often just as good and can save you money.

[Ana Helhoski]

That's true, and that is mostly typical. But something that's going on that we saw this year is that in the case of something like frozen veggies, name brand prices are competitive. And that's because store brands have lowered their sticker prices, so the name brands are trying to compete. So as always, compare, compare, compare.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

Cooking a big meal can be pretty overwhelming, but you'll pay a premium for convenience like pre chopped or pre washed ingredients on the shelf. And bundle deals, like we mentioned before, can be a steal if you're okay with not buying individual ingredients.

[Ana Helhoski]

But keep in mind, to please picky eaters, you may have to augment your purchases with additional items. So make sure that the bundle actually has what you're looking for.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

And finally, use those leftovers. They taste better the next day. I'm telling you, it's totally true.

[Ana Helhoski]

Leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving and. And you don't have to stick to the Thanksgiving flavor profile if you're over it either. Extra turkey can be used in a lot of ways, and so can those veggie sides. Now, Elizabeth, what are you looking forward to most from your Thanksgiving meal?

[Elizabeth Ayola]

Hmm, It's Interesting, Ana, because I didn't grow up in my household making Thanksgiving meals. I remember we used to go to Boston Market and we would just get a meal from there. But what I used to like are the mashed potatoes. And I would still say, well, I don't have much mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, so maybe Ana, the thing that I'm looking forward to is not cooking Thanksgiving because I'm going to someone's house.

[Ana Helhoski]

Yeah, I am also looking forward to sitting back and not having to do the work. My mom was always the one cooking a giant meal for my entire extended family, and I always ended up having to, like set the table and help out with a lot chopping and things like that. But this year my cousin has taken the reins and he's got like a really huge meal planned and I think he's adding Mac and cheese and carrot cake to the mix. And there are rumors of a possible lasagna, too.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

What? Shut the front door.

[Ana Helhoski]

Yeah, it's a big thing among Italian families, but that's all tbd.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

Well, I love lasagna and carrot cake, so you have to keep me posted.

[Ana Helhoski]

Will do.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

All right, thanks, Anna.

[Ana Helhoski]

You got it.

[Elizabeth Ayola]

Up next, we answer listeners question about common law, marriage and taxes. But before we get into that, a reminder to send us your money questions. Maybe you're planning financial goals ahead of the new year or you're paying off debt from this year and you need a bit of help. Leave us a voicemail or text us on the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730-Nerd. We love emails. Send them to [e-mail] in a moment. This episode's money question. Stay with us.

[Sean]

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[Elizabeth Ayola]

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[Elizabeth Ayola]

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[Sean]

We'Re back and answering your money questions to help you make smarter financial decisions. This episode's question comes from Britt who sent us an email. Hi Smart Money. My partner and I just moved in together and we are about to get our common law status notarized so I can add him as a dependent on my employer's health insurance plan. We live in Denver, Colorado. We are in mutual agreement about getting married after he finishes school. Should we file taxes jointly? Is there anything we should consider before getting common law married? For context, he is a full time student paying out of pocket for school. His only debt is a car payment. I have healthy high yield savings accounts, investments retirement accounts. Thanks Britt. To help us answer Britt's question on this episode of Smart Money, we are joined by Bella Avila, our tax nerd. Welcome back to Smart Money Bella.

[Bella Avila]

Thanks for having me back.

[Sean]

So let's start by laying out a couple of definitions. First, is common law married? So with common law marriage you have a marriage that is recognized by law, but you don't have to pay for a marriage license or have a ceremony. Not all states offer this, but Colorado, where Britt and their partner live, does. One of the main benefits of common law marriage is that you get access to many of the legal and financial benefits of marriage, like having a spouse on your health insurance plan like Britt mentioned and also being able to file your taxes jointly. But you don't have to deal with the whole pomp and circumstance and expense of a formal marriage. So I want to focus on the filing taxes jointly part of it because that's what Britt seems to be asking about as well. So Bella, can you start by laying out the different tax filing statuses? Again, Brit did mention filing jointly, but there are several other forms of filing filing your taxes too.

[Bella Avila]

So there are five tax filing statuses and single filer and married filing jointly are the most common ones. But there are three others as well. Married filing separately, surviving spouse and head of household. I think a few of these are kind of self explanatory, like the single status, married filing jointly separately. And then there are a couple that are lesser known like the surviving spouse and head of household statuses. So I'll run through those quickly. Surviving spouse is for people whose spouse has passed away within the last two years. The tax brackets are the same as those for people who are married and filing jointly. But there are a few conditions that you have to meet to use the status. Like you can't remarry in the same year of their death and you have to have a child that lives with you. And then head of household is used by people who are not married and they have a dependent that they financially support. So that could be their kid or a relative. And the tax rates here are more favorable than that of just the single status.

[Sean]

So are there any specific tax benefits to common law marriage or is it essentially like being regular married as far as the IRS is concerned?

[Bella Avila]

The IRS recognizes it the same as a regular marriage. The only thing I'd say you want to keep in mind is that a majority of states don't recognize common law marriages. So that means if you were to move states for any reason, your marriage might not be valid in the eyes of the IRS anymore unless they move.

[Sean]

To another state where there is common law marriage recognized.

[Bella Avila]

Right, right.

[Sean]

Okay, got it. So Britt asks whether they and their partner should file jointly since they're common law married or will be soon. Their only options are really married filing jointly or married filing separate. Can you talk about why they would choose one filing status over another?

[Bella Avila]

Most married couples choose the married filing jointly status because it's generally more beneficial. The tax brackets and the standard deduction are double that of a single filer, which makes sense because two people are filing one or two return. But where the benefit really comes in, I think is for filers with really different incomes.

[Sean]

That is something that my partner and I are grappling with too. We, by the time this is live, we will be married and we actually are going to see very little tax benefit to getting married. But I'm wondering if you can give us an example of how this all might play out for people.

[Bella Avila]

Let's say that there's a married couple where spouse A makes $200,000 in taxable income at their job. And then spouse B is a stay at home parent making no taxable income. If this couple to file a joint return, the highest tax rate they would see would be 22%. But then let's say spouse A were to choose the married filing separately status, those tax brackets are much less favorable and the highest tax rate they would see would be 32% on that last few thousand dollars of their income. And this is a pretty drastic example that I've given. But the same logic really applies, even if the difference isn't quite as big. And then married, finally jointly, I'll say isn't inherently beneficial. Like you mentioned, me and my partner are the same where if we were to get marri and choose the married filing jointly status, we make about equal incomes. We also don't have kids, we don't have student loans, and we don't have medical expenses to think about, which are also considerations. So our tax situation wouldn't change all that much by filing jointly or separately.

[Sean]

And of course the tax benefit isn't the only reason why people get married. There are all sorts of other benefits like getting your spouse on your healthcare plan and also just, you know, building a family and a life together. All those fun romantic things. So Bella, can you walk us through some of the pros and cons of filing separately then?

[Bella Avila]

So kind of like I touched on a little bit earlier, there are some things outside of just income that are important to think about when choosing a filing status. Like I kind of touched on earlier with the married filing separately status, you can't claim certain child related tax credits. So if you have kids, that's something to think about. And then you also can't claim certain education related tax credits either. And then the last negative I'll mention defiling separately is that if one spouse takes a standard deduction, the other has to as well. And then the same goes with itemizing. Does all of that necessarily make sense to me? Not really, but those are the rules the IRS sets, so we have to follow them.

[Sean]

My understanding is that a lot of these rules are set up so that married couples can't game the system and get excessive tax benefits by filing separately.

[Bella Avila]

On the other hand, though there are some cases in which filing separately would make sense. I think some income based student loan repayment plans base your monthly payment on income. So if you're only reporting one income on your tax return instead of two, that could lower your monthly bill. And then another thing to think about is unreimbursed medical expenses. If you have steep medical expenses, you can deduct anything over 7.5% of your adjusted gross income on your tax return. So kind of similar to the last example I gave, this deduction being based off of just one income instead of two could be beneficial. The last things I'll touch on are a little bit more interpersonal. If your spouse has passed tax debt, you might want to file separately to avoid being held responsible for that debt. And then I'd also say that if you suspect your spouse might not be being honest about tax matters, or if you're planning to get a divorce, anything along those lines, it makes sense to file separately.

[Sean]

So Britt also asked about what they should consider before getting common law married. So Bella, is there anything else you can think of, tax wise that they should be looking into here?

[Bella Avila]

I'd say if one spouse is looking to legally change their name, look at the tax deadline and see how far away it is. It's something you might not think to do, but processing a name change request can take quite a while. And if that process is still going on when you file your tax return, it can cause some hiccups. So you might even think about holding off on a name change until after the deadline if it's pretty close, and then before you get married. I think it's a good idea to keep a to do list for after you get married if you've decided to file jointly. At the top of that to do list should be adjusting your W4 form at work. This form tells your employer how much tax to withhold, and a big factor in that is your filing status. The IRS actually says that newlyweds have to submit their new W4s to their employer within 10 days of getting married.

[Sean]

I have two other things that I would encourage Brit and their partner to look into. First, I'd encourage them to review income limits for various retirement accounts and other tax credits they might want to take advantage of when you file jointly. As you pointed out, Bella, you can take advantage of higher income limits for many of these things. And secondly, I would love for them to talk with an attorney about getting what's called a cohabitation agreement and this is basically a prenup for common law marriages. I talked about this in the podcast a few weeks ago, but I'm a big proponent of having a prenup or a cohabitation agreement or at least talking about the idea of this with your spouse.

[Bella Avila]

I'm curious to hear your take on prenups and why you think they're a good idea. I don't subscribe to these ideas, but I've definitely heard some talk online about prenups and how maybe people think they make a marriage seem transactional or like you're planning to get divorced before you're even married. What do you think about that?

[Sean]

Yeah, so I would encourage folks to go back and listen to the podcast episode in a few weeks ago where I did talk about this. But the bottom line for me is that, you know, all marriages are somewhat transactional and also all marriages will come to an end eventually. So you might as well for the end of this relationship when you're still in a good place with each other and just make sure that you're looking out for each other while you still love each other and are not too acrimonious. So that's kind of what I'm thinking. And it just was a kind of a no brainer for me just because my partner and I have a lot of separate assets and we again, we want to take care of each other.

[Bella Avila]

Sean, I couldn't agree more. I think these conversations are even more important as our norms for how couples think about finances and relationships shift. I think there are a good number of couples out there that stray from tradition and don't share finances. And that could be another good reason to consider a prenup. But I think there's a lot that I, and I'm sure some of our listeners might not understand about prenups since I'd say they've only recently become more common. Could you give us some insight into what the process of getting one was like? And if you're comfortable sharing, I'm wondering how much they cost, how long everything took to get processed, kind of logistics like that.

[Sean]

I'd say the logistics were maybe the biggest hurdle more than like the emotional or kind of financial awkwardness of having this conversation with my partner beginning and it took about a month. I spent some time researching law firms in the Portland, Oregon area that do this type of work, reached out to a few and a number of them said, sorry, we can't help you, which I found surprising. Finally found one that did want to help me, we set up a call. So at some point, my partner Garrett and I, we filled out a form with all of our assets on it. My attorney encouraged Garrett to get his own attorney to review this, but because of the expenses involved and since we were on the same page with what we wanted in our prenup, we didn't end up going that route. But once we got the draft prenup, I paid around $2,500 at that point too, just to make sure that I was going to, you know, pay up for it. After we both went through a little docusign form, it was all pretty much said and done from there. So really not that burdensome and a heck of a lot easier and cheaper than many divorces.

[Bella Avila]

Well, thanks Sean, for letting us peek behind the curtain a little bit and sharing your prenup experience.

[Sean]

And thank you for all the insights around filing your taxes as a couple because it gets pretty complicated.

[Bella Avila]

Well, that's all we have for this episode. Remember, listener, that we're here to answer your money questions. So turn to the Nerds and call or text us your questions at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730 N E R D. You can also email [e-mail] join us next.

[Sean]

Time to hear the next installment in our Budget Rehab series. You can follow Smart Money on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes.

[Bella Avila]

And here's our brief disclaimer. We are not your financial or investment advisors. This nerdy info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances.

[Sean]

This episode was produced by Tess Viglund and Ana Helhoski. Hilary Georgie helped with editing. Nick Karisimi mixed our audio. And a big thank you to NerdWallet's editors for all their help.

[Bella Avila]

And with that said, until next time, turn to the Nerds.