The task of money management with your spouse requires a lot of hard work. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), almost ¾ of Americans experience financial stress at some time or the other.
Your goal in life should be to keep your financial burden as much low as possible. If you believe in half-baked stories about money, then you’re committing a huge mistake, as it’d make both managing money and relationship a lot harder.
Money - The dealbreaker in relationships?
- Financial matters in a household is the second most cited reason for marriages ending in divorces.
- Around 70% married couples quote financial problems as the source of marital conflicts.
- In another research, it has been observed that couples who’ve fought over monetary issues at least once a week are 30% more vulnerable to ask for a divorce.
To keep your relationship working throughout your life, you need to mark these popular money myths that may create a big faultline in your relations.
Myth #1: A penny can churn out a million.
Fact:
If you’re a penny-pinching partner, then you may have already starved your partner out of his/her spirit and essence. Rather, you could’ve encouraged your partner to achieve his/her full potential, be it economically, personally or socially.
It's okay to keep track of your daily costs, but don’t overdo that to the extent of keeping your partner from pursuing his/her dreams on grounds of speculated, short-lived financial risks. Instead, you need to focus on your partner’s long-term goals and help him/her achieve the best.
Myth #2: Money comes first and then relationships.
Fact:
No relationship has ever survived without one money regret or another. Some of the most common money regrets spouses have are ‘If only he/she had stopped me from investing’ or ‘Alas, she/he would have persuaded me not to make such silly purchases’.
Ruminating about these unfulfilled dreams can be counter productive. They may take a heavy toll on your emotional, personal and social life.
It’ll help you to develop a suitable platform for your financial and love life to flourish.
Myth #3: If you make more, then you know more than your spouse.
Fact:
Your paycheck, in no way, is a parameter to judge your job skills, investment acumen, aptitude for negotiation or simply your common sense. Actually, a more intuitive partner can easily identify whether or not a particular investment is good or bad rather than the partner that contributes more towards the household budget but has poor understanding of stock market dynamics.
Myth #4: We have to save for our future first and then enjoy our togetherness.
Fact:
If your savings plan is prudent and intelligent, then you could wriggle out some dollars to enjoy your present, apart from saving for your retirement. There’s no need for you to overspend on a costly holiday trip or burn a hole in your pocket to make your weekend happening. You could fare much better, if you can take out some time and money to enjoy the togetherness with your spouse.
Myth #5: Mutual agreement is needed on all issues.
Fact:
To many spouses, any kind of disagreement can be fatal for their marital relations. If you like to spend and your spouse prefers to save, then that doesn’t imply you reach out for the ultimatum.
When both of you agree on all matters, then consent from one of you is futile.
Yes, money can ruin relationships. But you shouldn’t let the ghost of money regret trample the light moments you’d share with your life partner. Be vigilant about your finances and make sure you don’t fall into the trap of distorted facts and fancy fiction.
