The famous author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad sent out a newsletter which I believe is worth adding to this blog. He is after all married to a very entrepreneurial woman, so his life advice is worthwhile.
This may or may not apply to bitcoiners, but we can all agree that money is a big part of couple troubles. You don’t have to ask these questions at the first date or anything but they are very nice guidelines when you’re making a big step like moving in together.
3 Questions Couples Should Ask
by Robert Kiyosaki.
Hey,
When I was growing up, I don’t recall my parents ever talking about money.
At least not in a rational way.
Like most baby boomers, my only real experience of my parents discussing their finances was the occasional fight that spilled over when things were particularly stressful financially.
Thankfully, times have changed.
According to research by TD Bank, millennials in committed relationships talk about money much more often than their older counterparts. The survey of 1,749 individuals revealed that 60 percent of millennials talk about money weekly with their partner, and 97 percent talk about money monthly.
This is important because research shows that couples that talk about money frequently are much happier than couples that don’t. I’d also wager that they’re much better off than couples that don’t.
For those who aren’t currently in a relationship, I’ll offer some money advice before you find your life partner. Get on the same page and start talking about money right away.
When Kim and I were on our first date, we talked about money.
At the time we were both poor, but I knew that I wanted to be rich and I wanted to find someone who viewed money and life the same way I did. That meant that we needed to have clear and frank conversations about money from the get go.
Sadly, I know my fair share of couples who broke up not because they didn’t have money but because they had different value systems when it came to money—even when they were very well off.
So, here are three questions to discuss with your significant other.
#1: What’s Important?
Take this time to review the things that are important in your financial situation each week. There’s hundreds of things you can talk about, so it’s key to understand the priorities you need to cover…
- Is there an area of your portfolio that needs to be dug into?
- Have you recently reached a goal and need to set a new one?
- Do you need to discuss an opportunity that came up since you last spoke?
Make these a priority and just like a business meeting, work on building a shared agenda.
One easy thing to do would be simply to create a shared Google Doc that allows both you and your partner to build an agenda throughout the week.
Then when you sit down, you’ll be ready to have a great conversation from the get go.
#2: How Are We Doing?
Once you have determined what is important to discuss, you need to take an honest look at how you’re doing. Each partner should be committed to bringing the right information and data to the table so there can be a fruitful discussion.
Sometimes, things are great and don’t need a deep dive.
So a simple “we’re doing great in this area” can be said and you can move on to other items.
Other times, you need to take a close look at an area that isn’t doing well. If there are ideas or plans in place to address them, get those out on the table for discussion. If there’s no plan or ideas, now is the time to work together on those.
So, for instance, if you’re wanting to invest in a property and one partner was tasked with doing some searches the week before but hasn’t come up with anything, it’s time to talk about why.
Perhaps there wasn’t time.
How can you free up time next week? Or maybe there was a lot of searching but nothing came up. Do you take a new look at the criteria and adjust?
#3: What Will We Do Next?
As with any good meeting, once you’ve established what is important and talked about how you’re doing, it’s time to discuss what you will do next.
Discuss the steps you’ll take until your next meeting, and make it clear who will do what.
For many, this might seem too mechanical.
But the reality is that being on the same page this way about your finances actually frees you up for spontaneity and to enjoy each other throughout other times in your life together.
Because you talk about money regularly and with a set agenda, you don’t have to let it suddenly come up and ruin a nice dinner, for example. You can simply say, let’s put that on the agenda for our next meeting and move on to having a great evening together.
