"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day so that my child may have peace" - Thomas Paine.

As rightly stated by Mr Paine (a famous English-American political activist, author, political theorist and revolutionary), this is what every parent wishes for. As a parent, you not only want your child to have a sound education, but also celebrations on important occasions for your little one, not to mention a grand wedding. But in order to fulfil these desires, it is imperative that you follow the right approach towards planning for your financial goals.

While planning for your child's needs, it always pays to start early. This is because if you start saving and invest early, it will give you a larger time horizon to meet your financial goals (such as child's education and marriage) and even build a bigger corpus.

Financial planning for children's marriage is a major financial target that every parent needs to achieve. Although the exact age of marriage and expenses for marriage cannot be determined, however, planning and allocating funds for it is definitely one smart move, so better build a fund that will support your children's marriage in future. Calculate the future cost of your children's marriage.

Ensure that you don't have any kind of debt, especially personal loans or credit card outstanding, when you get married. "Clear out your debts before you get married. It's unfair to make a shared burden out of your personal debt."

And taking a personal loan for your marriage should be a strict no-no, especially when you have enough time to arrange for the resources and save towards it. Make a savings plan in advance to avoid last-minute scuffle for funds by taking personal loans. If you have an educational loan, then prepare a plan to repay it early.

For women, marriage often entails a change in the surname and also the first name in some cases. Update your KYC details in banks and other investment avenues. Get your address changed. Existing nominations will also require immediate attention.

For a smooth transition, it's essential to keep a record of all the original documents in one place. Get hold of a marriage certificate at the earliest. Investments made by your parents with you as the nominee may not require any change. But remember nominations in case of investments of those who are getting married need to be modified in their spouse's name after marriage.

Post-marriage, you need to take a call on whether to continue with your individual bank account or get a joint account. It's better for women to continue with the existing account well into the first few years of marriage as certain cheques in their maiden name would not be subject to name-change formalities.

Holding two separate accounts is, however, catching up. "Indeed, working youngsters who are getting married nowadays have a disinclination towards an absolute merger of their personal finances. There's a distinct preference for holding separate bank and/or investment accounts."

Working professionals could have separate joint accounts, but they must ensure that there is proper nomination and the account is operated jointly with the spouse on 'either or survivor' basis.

Meeting the monthly household needs could be the starting point of a talk about money. Use this opportunity to consider putting a financial plan in place. As time goes by, put a plan in place for buying a house, car and other long-term goals such as retirement. Avoid shortcuts and any ad-hoc savings programme, and instead carve out a proper financial roadmap.