So you married your money opposite – join the club! One thing is certain – getting aligned on your financial life will bring riches to your married life.
Everyone seems to know that money is the #1 reason for divorce in the first five years of marriage. However, if blaming a relationship breakdown on something made out of paper seems odd to you, it’s because money isn’t the real issue – it’s generally something else.
A ‘root cause’ is the true underlying source of a problem. Perhaps in a challenged marriage relationship the root cause is a ‘need for control’ or ‘a need for power’ or ‘poor communication’. It’s just a lot easier to blame ‘money’, which is why this is the response of choice for researched broken marriages.
Successful marriages are all about give and take, respect and appreciating different perspectives. Two heads are always better than one when they are working well together. So if you think that making a big money decision is best made solo, beware – listening to another perspective from someone who is aligned with your financial future (and with a vested interest in it!) is always a good thing. The biggest financial mistakes I have made personally were made without my wife’s involvement. I no longer make big financial decisions without her because she brings to the table a different perspective from mine – she sees the world from a different angle, she will ask questions I won’t, she will challenge me, and together we simply make better decisions than we do separately.
The same could be said when it comes to parenting, career planning, retirement and most other big decisions in life.
So what matters is not whether you have 2 chequing accounts or 1 chequing account. What matters is that you are communicating openly, discussing pros/cons, actively participating in the journey and learning from each decision made together.
With one life to live, we can all learn a lot from our life mate. Don’t forget the reasons you’re together – to make each other better.