Financial advice for young newlyweds (not just royal ones!)

With this Friday's royal wedding in mind, Wealth Management experts Baigrie Davies highlight a 10-point financial plan that high earning, young newlywed couples should consider in order to set them up for a better future.

1. Newlyweds need to start by co-ordinating their finances to ensure there is a joint personal finance system in place.

2. Create and work to a budget to make sure their income exceeds expenditure.

3. Pay off expensive debt such as credit cards, overdrafts and unsecured loans, especially if they have been used to pay for the wedding and/or honeymoon.

4. Arrange wills and consider a pre, or even, post-nup.

5. Look closely at property arrangements - if they own two properties, decide if they should be sold or let- and look at consolidating the properties into a bigger one. With greater earnings, it may be possible to get cheaper mortgage interest rates.

6. Look at transferring ownership of assets between spouses to maximise tax reliefs and minimise tax paid, for example with Capital Gains Tax and earning gross interest on cash deposits, if one of the couple is a nil or lower rate tax payer than the other.

7. Protect what matters - look at Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover that pays out in the event of ill health or serious illness.

8. Consider Life Insurance when planning to start a family. Two single life policies are better than a joint policy

9. Start saving into pension funds in a meaningful way quickly. Most of the hard work is done in the early years of retirement savings, so each person paying £50,000 into a pension can get the retirement fund off to a flying start and reduce income tax bills for Higher and Additional rate income tax payers.

10. Maximise the amount saved into ISAs by paying in £21,360 per year (2 x £10,680 or £1,780 total per month). The tax free income will prove to be very useful in the future for school fees planning.

Ian Howe, Managing Director at Baigrie Davies, says: "No doubt Kate and William will have few financial worries, but there are plenty of high earning, young couples out there who need guidance. This 10-point plan highlights several key areas that should be tackled to ensure they enjoy a smooth financial future."