5 Ways Your Choice Of Life Partners Can Make Or Break Your Finances

Ginger — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:00:15 +0000

Choosing the right long term partner takes time, patience and a sincere interest in making sure you’ve chosen the right person. After all you’ll be sharing your lives together quite possibly for the rest of your life. So it makes sense that your choice in life partners can impact your finances. But fear not, chances are, if you’re reading this blog, at least one of you has a sincere interest in improving your finances.

Saving and Investing

Consider your potential partner’s approach to saving money and investing for the long haul. Do they pay themselves first or do they spend money and then consider whatever is left over for savings? If they save at all? Do they have a firm understanding of the stock market and not simply following the herd when it comes to making wise investments?

Do they read the Barrons publication and/or subscribe to Motley Fool updates and articles?

Your partner’s habits in this area could possibly make or break your relationship and eventual nuptials. Be sure to consider their spending habits, how much they save and if they plan to invest their money wisely.

Children

How many do you want? Will you utilize a daycare, nanny or stay at home? Discuss these options as they are sure to come up once children become part of the equation. Many couples go through tough times because one partner wants to stay home and the other becomes resentful due to bearing the sole financial burden of the household.

Household Finances

What’s their approach? Will they want to pay each bill as it arrives or will they schedule all household bills via your bank’s bill pay system? Believe it or not these nuances in personal finance approaches can cause unexpected rifts and it is important that you discuss these issues early on with your potential mate.

When merging your lives together for the first time, it can be difficult due to working in a routine that’s worked for such a long time. But take a step back, try to understand what will work for your relationship and not focus on who’s in control of the money. In this manner you learn to compromise, and if nothing else, one of the more important lessons you’ll learn in marriage.

Opposing Financial Goals

Does your partner want to use savings for a business they haven’t quite researched or do you want to pay down debt? I don’t need to tell you that this can be disastrous when not approached in a sensible manner. It is best to sit your mate down and be upfront: ask the questions that are on your mind. If they are uncomfortable, work with them on it until you get the answers you need. I asked my then boyfriend about his credit early on in our relationship, I wanted no part of a man that was irresponsiblele with money with no plans to improve or change his financial situation.

Teaching someone how to budget is one thing, but marrying someone who has no intentions of remaining debt free building wealth is a financial disaster waiting to happen.

Personal Finances Interest and Involvement

Are you marrying someone who has no clue or interest in how their money is possibly working for or against them? When did they last check their bank statement? Credit card statement? Are you marrying someone who knows what bills come out on each day of the month or are you marrying someone who consistently overdrafts their checking account and sees no problem with living hand to mouth?

Make wise decisions in this area. Money is the number one reason that couples divorce, please avoid being a statistic.

Does your partner take an active role in your personal finances? What’s one area you believe he or she could improve upon with regards to your personal finances?

Women and Money: What does it mean to you?

Ginger — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:00:57 +0000

Growing up my dad always drilled into me that I value money and money does not value me. Now that I am older, I see the wisdom in his words. Sure, Uncle Sam puts a value on me based on my income and net worth but at the core of who I am, I make the call as to what money means to me through my actions. Is it a means to an end? Does it mean security or a way to build self esteem? These are all questions we should ask ourselves.

We are told from a young age that we are to let the men in our lives handle everything, and this includes the area of personal finance. I am sure if we were to poll men and women; men got more personal finance lessons than we did growing up. That’s because they were/are expected to be head of the household, bread winners, make, count and spend the money and we we’re taught to let them handle all money matters.

Bankrate confirms this in their article “Men and women spend and save differently”:

“From birth, American women and men are raised to view and spend money quite differently. Our socialization, a trained behavior, is primarily modeled after our same-sex parent. While experts agree these generalizations are breaking down, here’s the money paradigm most of us have been dealt:

“Women, trained to nurture and seek acceptance, view money as a means to create a lifestyle. Women spend on things that enhance day-to-day living. Theirs is a now-money orientation.

Â· Men, trained to fix and provide, view money as a means to capture and accumulate value. Men don’t spend, they invest. Men don’t want something, they need it. Theirs is a future-money orientation.”

Many women get married never having that conversation with their husbands or partners about money. This has perhaps led to a revolution of sorts around women being more knowledgeable about the household finances.

What’s your relationship with money? What were you taught about it growing up?

Think about it.

Do you know your net worth?

Do you know the total dollar amount of your debts vs. assets?

Have you seen your latest 401k statement?

Where are your important financial records?

Who oversees the finances in your household?

What were you taught about these questions growing up or are you only recently considering these questions with the advent of Suze Orman, David Bach and the like?

Itâ€™s ok if you don’t know the answers to these questions, they were meant to be thought provoking and inspire action. Get your financial house in order and donâ€™t wait for a tragedy or someone else to do it for you. Research and ask questions, the only stupid question is the one NOT being asked.

Girls Just Wanna Have Funds » Relationships and money

5 Ways Your Choice Of Life Partners Can Make Or Break Your Finances

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Women and Money: What does it mean to you?

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