Marry the Financially Right Person
Marry the Financially Right Person, I don’t mean become a ‘SUGARBABY’!!
What I mean by this is….
You don’t need to marry a financial expert or some one who has pots of money. I mean marry somebody with the same thoughts, feelings and understanding of money as you. I am so guilty of what I am going to talk about. It is one of those conversations where I have avoided in every dating situation. Are you good with money? Are you the type to pay your bills on time? Do you spurge money or do you save it it? Who feels comfortable asking these questions? I certainly didn’t but they may actually guide you to a happy marriage.
Marry the person who you feel comfortable talking about money with. Marry the person who has good financial habits. As nice as it is to be showered in gifts and nights away, it really is not good if it is all been thrown on the credit card or the rent is not paid to whooo you. Show your future life partner your good financial habits and look out for theirs.
Did you know ‘money’ is one of the biggest subjects couple fight over? Not only is it important to have a look at your future life partners relationship with money, it is equally important to show who you are. It is hardly fair to walk into a marriage pretending you got it all sorted when in fact you have 10k in credit card debt and your busy hiding the letters under the bed because you can’t pay them.
In the same sense, do not change your financial habits once your married. If you saw your partner was a saver and you decided to act the same, despite not actually finding saving easy, this may cause significant damage to the relationship in the long run.
Talk openly about money. This part I found easy but asking questions regarding the other person was always difficult for me.
Talk about your ‘money philosophy’.
- Are you a saver?
- Are you a spender?
- Do you believe in debt?
- Do you believe in home ownership?
- Do you owe money?
- Have you credit history issues?
- What debt do you have?
- Do both have budget’s in place?
Easy Questions to answer but not easy to ask. I am often asked how to change my partners financial habits. I see lots of advice about this but I often don’t agree with it. There is a fine line between explaining how you would like your finances to run as a couple and financial abuse. Financial abuse is anther topic which I will go into anther time but disclosing your past, present and future hopes for your financial lives before the wedding bells is so important. Often a spender will find comfort in sharing their lives with a saver, sometimes a saver will enjoy meeting a spender in the middle by getting more comfortable with spending money. Two savers are often very good together but rarely two spenders work well together.
My advice is have the talk early on. Not only will you learn a lot about your future spouse but also yourself.
