How are financial decisions made in your family? In some relationships the money is divided into yours, mine and ours. The husband and wife each contribute part of their salary to the household pot, and then they keep the rest. While this may work for some people, it would cause a great deal of stress in my life.
Is there one spouse in your relationship whose vote counts more when it comes to saving and spending money? Or are you an equal team when it comes to making serious financial decisions? Does it matter if your spouse makes more money than you do or do you not even take that into consideration? What about stay at home parents? Since they are not significantly contributing to the money brought into the home, should they have say in how money is handled in the family? Do you look at this decision as money lost or as a positive thing for your family? These are tough questions to think about and to answer. It is important that you are on equal footing when it comes to financial matters.
Many fights in marriage happen because of money. Resentment may begin to build because of poor money management or because the money situation is making one spouse feel inferior. It is important to take time to make sure that you are not harboring ill feelings towards your spouse about money issues. If you are you should work to address them now, before they become even bigger.
The attitudes that you and your spouse have towards each other and money will greatly affect the happiness of your marriage. It is important to be on the same page when considering your finances. You should have the same long-term goals and an idea of how to get there. One spouse may be savvier with the long-term investments, while the other handles the day to day finances better. That is fine, as long as you are both aware of the bigger picture and are working towards it together.
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