5 Questions About Money You Must Ask Your Partner Before You Get Married
Be sure to discuss, compromise, and agree on money matters.
Mikhail Nilov | Pexels No one needs to know you started pinning ideas for the wedding after your second date. Planning is a good thing!
Although money matters aren't nearly as fun as picking out the theme, the colors, the cake flavor or the wedding gown, discussing your philosophies on budgeting is just as important as anything else you plan for your married life ahead. An alarming number of couples eventually break up over money. (Don't be one of them!)
We've compiled a handy list of questions to help you discuss your personal financial history, your individual approach to money and your hopes for the future related to money.
Here are 5 questions about money you must ask your partner before you get married
1. How did your parents spend money?
George P Batten, Virginia Tech, states "the nuanced ways in which parents socialize their children as competent consumers, and has implications for familial relationships and gender and class inequality in regards to family and consumer activities."
2. What mistakes have you made with money?
Sarah Jacobson and Ragan Petrie, Georgia State University, explore how "those more likely to make mistakes, however, as they become more risk averse, they are less likely to belong to a savings group and more likely to take up informal credit, suggesting that mistakes correlate with less than optimal behavior."
3. Do you track your spending and savings?
frantic00 via Shutterstock
Alisya Mazni Mazlan, Universiti Utara Malaysia, conducted "a review of relevant literature and case studies, [to] explore the benefits of mindful consumption, such as reduced financial stress, increased savings, and a more sustainable lifestyle. Additionally, it examines practical strategies and tools that individuals can employ to cultivate mindful consumption habits and make informed financial choices."
4. What stresses you out when it comes to money?
John V. Boardman analyzed the results of an American Psychological Association study "that indicates one-third of Americans are living under extreme stress. Family finances, money, and work continue to be the leading causes of stress for three-quarters of Americans, a dramatic increase over the 59% reporting the same sources of stress in 2006. The survey also found that the housing crisis is having an effect on many, with half of the Americans (51%) citing rent or mortgage costs as sources of stress this decade."
5. What are your Primary and Secondary Money Personalities?
A meta-analysis of personality traits and earnings published in the Journal of Economic Psychology concludes that "Overall, the primary literature provides robust support for a positive association between personal earnings and the traits of Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion, while simultaneously revealing a negative and significant association between earnings and the traits of Agreeableness and Neuroticism. We find no evidence of a substantial publication bias. Meta-regression estimates suggest that Openness and Conscientiousness are positively associated with earnings even when primary researchers control for individual cognitive abilities and educational attainments. Similarly, the studies that include labor market control variables exhibit weaker associations between earnings and Extraversion and Agreeableness."
It doesn't have to be boring. On your next date night, make plans to meet somewhere new — a rooftop, the lake, the new lounge downtown — but take some time to hear what your significant other has to say about money.
You know you're curve-breakers. Understand how you both approach money and you will join the ranks of those happy couples who discuss, compromise, and agree on money matters.
The Money Couple helps others achieve financial freedom while putting family first. They offer services and resources to bring couples closer together, not only in their marriages, but in their finances as well.