One of the many reasons a marriage falls apart is because of money. There is someone in a marriage (or whatever relationship you’re in) not being transparent about money and it breaks down the partnership from within.
What does transparency look like?
Firstly, if you have any debt, its best to come out and share it with your partner. They might be liable for it, but more importantly, they will be able to understand why you contribute what you do, to the household.
Next, talk about your salary openly with each other. Your partner is rooting for you to do well at your job and may even have some insight on how you can negotiate a better salary. Also, it’s important to know what each of you make in order to plan for your goals together.
Talk about the assets that you have accumulated. What is your net worth? What are your plans for your money? ‘I just want to become incredibly wealthy. No other plans’. Great! let your partner in on it! Or it could be ‘I want to own an investment property and my own home’. Ahh, and maybe you want to do this with your partner? Tell them!
Talk about each other’s spending habits. It’s going to be difficult if one of you enjoys a jolly old time splurging your money while your partner is at the other end of the spectrum. You both need to come to a compromise on what needs to be done. Its not possible to sustain a lifestyle that is swinging through the extremes and just hope that it will all balance out.
Share your short term and long term plans with each other. Oh you want to fly to Bali for a week but the Nilgiri hills are calling your wife and she wants to go! You want one house, but your husband wants to own a slew of houses and turn them into rental properties. You plan on working till retirement, but your partner wants a break from work and follow their passion for a while.
Unless you have an honest conversation around money, you’re not going to understand where the other person is coming from.
You may have grand plans and want to invest your combined income into the stock market, your partner maybe someone who has a lot of doubt and is extremely reticent to do the same with their money. What do you do? You can’t just get angry with them for not understanding the stock market, because that is not the problem here.
You want to be empathetic of where they are coming from and find a middle ground that both of you are happy with. And yes, there IS a middle ground. It doesn’t have to be MY WAY or the HIGH WAY.
The Money Wellness Studio 
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