Don’t Let Money Issues Ruin Your Marriage!

Unfortunately, it’s very common for money issues to cause undue stress in a relationship. Disagreements over “wants” vs “needs” and unexpected expenses often bring out the worst in otherwise-loving partners.

After studying marriage for 32 years, Charles and Elizabeth Schmitz (married 48 years and counting) co-authored a book called “Building a Love that Lasts, The Seven Secrets of Successful Marriages.” In their book the Schmitzes offer seven rules for not letting money get the best of your marriage.

Here is a one I especially like:

Celebrate whenever you achieve a financial success. That could include paying off a credit card bill or mortgage or reaching a savings goal.

Believe it or not, I have seen couples go out for a celebratory dinner after they finalized their life insurance coverage. They appreciated the difficulties in meeting the challenges involved: doing the planning, going through underwriting, getting everything done on time… And, they gave themselves a good pat on the back for reaching a milestone in their family financial management.