Five Important Topics to Discuss with Your Significant Other
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“Some couples go over their budgets very carefully every month, others just go over them.” – Sally Poplin
Without a doubt, money is one of the leading causes of stress in a relationship. One way to avoid financial turmoil and uneasiness is to have an honest conversation, for better or worse, about your financial situation with your significant other.
In many relationships money can be a taboo topic, so if your partner is not jumping at the opportunity to have this conversation it may take some patience and understanding to make him or her feel comfortable. Be sure to create a safe environment for the conversation and keep an open mind.
If you’re ready to have this important conversation with your significant other, here are some topics you should discuss.
Debts and Expenses
- When combining finances, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the financial obligations of both parties.
- Remember, you are not responsible for your significant other’s debt but you can at least create a plan of action when everything is known.
- The worst thing you can do is not discuss debt with your significant other, and later be surprised by a large, burdensome financial problem.
Savings Goals
- It’s important for couples to discuss their attitudes about savings and how they go about doing it.
- A difficult situation can arise when you have one party who is a constant spender and another who is a miser.
- As such, be sure to discuss each other’s financial goals and what you would like to save for, both individually and collectively.
- Discussing your savings goals will also give you a better understanding of each other’s priorities and goals in life.
Credit
- Just like debt, credit can be a tough, but important, conversation to have.
- When discussing the topic of credit, you’ll want to get a good understanding of your partner’s attitude and history with credit, as well as his or her current credit situation. Again, you don’t want to be surprised by a large, burdensome debt, so it’s best to get this out in the open even before you start to get too serious with an individual.
- It’s best to understand and either accept or reject your significant other’s approach to credit early in the relationship so you are not miserable later.
- This is important because credit affects many aspects of our lives, including preparation for major expenses like a family, house, car, etc.
Views on Shared Spending and Budgeting
- When it comes to managing your finances as a couple, it’s important to be on the same page.
- The biggest question to ask and decide: Will you have a joint account or will you maintain separate accounts?
- Another important question: Will one person be responsible for the bills or will you divide and conquer?
- Will you have a monthly shared budget? How will spending be tracked?
- Is there going to be a limit on the amount you or your significant other can spend on an item before consulting with each other?
- These questions will help you to have a clear understanding of each other’s financial role in the relationship.
- It will also help determine if one person is in charge or it will be done together.
Retirement Planning
- If you plan on sharing the rest of your life with your significant other, you will not want to leave retirement planning out of this discussion.
- Talk about your plans for retirement, and how you are saving and investing for retirement.
- Most importantly, don’t go about doing this alone. Be sure to share these thoughts and discussions with a financial planner who can assist you during this process.
“This would be a much better world if couples were in love as much as they are in debt.” – Earl Wilson
In order for a relationship to be successful, people need to be financially compatible. Simply stated, a spender partnered with a miser will be extremely difficult and probably won’t work long term. As such, it is important couples have these often times difficult conversations early in their relationship so they are not surprised later and, more importantly, able to compromise in a way for both to be financially happy.