This weekend I read this article about money in Ladies Home Journal. Yes, guys, I KNOW it says "ladies", but trust me, it's got great advice applicable to both genders. It hit on so many points about money that I agree with and/or have seen in real life. I liked it so much, I'm writing a series of entries about it. Let's get started!
"As my friend Kathleen puts it, "Once a week I say to my husband, 'Can you please not get hit by a truck? I don't even know the account passwords!'" (And this is a woman who owns her own wildly successful consulting business.)"
How many of you said "Do what?". How many of you said "So what?". Probably around 1/2 of each. Why do I say that? I read once that in each couple there is usually one money nerd who loves dealing with money, can talk all day about ways to manage money, etc. The other person is usually grateful for this because he or she HATES dealing with money, is thrilled not to have to be bothered, etc. (Guess which type of person I am? Hmm)
There is nothing wrong with one person being the lead person for the couple's finances, but there's something absolutely wrong with the other person being completely clueless, whether is is by choice or or by default. Life happens to us all. Let me give you some real life examples
Real Life Example #1
A friend of the family divorced after many years of marriage. My dad had to take him around and show him how to pay bills. The guy HAD NO IDEA how to do this as his wife had always handled it.
Real Life Example #2
I was talking to my mom about how unbelievable I found Real Life Example #1. She said "If something happened to Family Member X, Family Member Y would be the same way". Yep, Mom's right.
Real Life Example #3
I'm not sure how it came up, but one day my coworker and I were discussing the two examples above. She has been married many years, and she said it was crazy for one person to be so in the dark about how to handle the bills. A couple of weeks later, her husband was severely injured in a freak accident at work. She said she knew he wasn't feeling well when he didn't ask her to bring the checkbook to the hospital! She told me later "I thought about you" since we had discussed this very issue a few weeks prior. She knew where everything was and was able to care of it. She said she didn't do it "like he would have done it", but each person has his/her own money style. She handled everything just fine. I told her today about the magazine quote above, and again she said "that's crazy".
Take Away
If you are in a relationship, you both need to know what to do "just in case". Come up with a system that works for you. One of our VPs at work reconciles the bank statements while her hubby pays the bills. It's their system. Find one that works for you NOW. Not next week, NOW. You never know when you may need it.
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