For many, in the early stages of dating, they’re just thinking about chemistry, the romantic element, the fun. But if things go well, a relationship inevitably transitions into something much bigger than just a romantic experience.
You and your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse become partners in life, and that means managing the logistics and practical matters of life, like finances.
Start early
Financial talks should already begin in the early stages of a relationship, i.e. the dating stage. That’s when you should begin assessing someone’s comfort level with discussing money.
“If there were issues before marriage, they will be exasperated after marriage. If someone didn’t like talking about money before marriage, it will be worse after marriage.
Discuss it even on the first date
“When you’re dating, start to have those small conversations. Even if it’s the first date, talk about expectations on who is paying for what, without it being super awkward. Start an environment in which you can have financial talks, openly and early. Then money becomes a natural conversation.If you notice it tenses up every time you have one of those conversations, that’s something to take into consideration about who you’re dealing with.”
Don’t ignore red flags
“We often see the red flags in the beginning but are in such a rush to get married, or we assume those things will figure themselves out, but they don’t. Among many other red flags that shouldn’t be ignored early on, resistance to talking about money matters might just be another one.
Talk about goals
Talking about financial goals and says it can be done in a way that’s fun. Just starting these talks can show you how open someone is willing to be about money.
Vacations provide a good opportunity
When you haven’t fully joined lives and finances with a partner, you need to look for those natural opportunities to discuss money, as they may not come up often. When you want to travel together, how do you see this? Do you put money aside? How do you see it being paid for? Who is paying for what?”
Be aware of money love languages
You’ve likely heard of the five love languages – act of service, gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, physical touch – but did you know that there’s another one? That’s the money love language. When a partner wants to treat you, does that mean cooking you a home-cooked meal, or treating you to expensive delivery? To celebrate your victories, is he more inclined to do something small, or throw you a big, expensive party? It’s important to know what spending represents to your partner in talking about money.
Understand their childhood
What biases may you both be experiencing? If one person grew up in a house where the father took care of all the bills and the mother took care of the family needs, is that the expectation in this marriage? If one person grew up in a house where the father made all the financial decisions, does she think her husband will make all those decisions?”
Do what’s best for you
What are those expectations that are not being said?” She reminds us that just because your parents did things one way doesn’t mean that’s what will be best for your family, and your particular situation. “What works for your house isn’t going to be what works for anyone else’s house.”
The abundance mindset
There’s nothing worse than one person moving forward and the other person moving backward. “If one is trying to save and the other has Amazon packages shipped every day, and you can’t reach savings goals, that affects both of you.”
Prevent financial infidelity
Put boundaries in place on certain things. Financial infidelity can happen when large financial decisions are made, and not expressed to the other person, but it clearly affects the other person. So it’s important to set boundaries on how you handle finances.”
Communication issues and financial infidelity
That’s a rather big purchase to make without talking to one’s partner. As a result, this massive financial infidelity occurred.
When collaboration holds us back
If the idea of having to discuss every single financial transaction with your partner is frustrating or even stifling, It can be important to have separate accounts, and there are some areas in which you have your own jurisdiction, so you don’t have to agree on everything.”
You can have shared and separate goals
“You have your collective means of saving and spending, but you also want to have your single entities, so you can go and purchase that single thing you need, and you can make it happen, and it doesn’t need to cause tension,”. She does advise that, when it comes to your joint account, it’s important to set rules and expectations surrounding how that is used.
