Talk About Money Early With Your Spouse

One of the ways that couples can avoid estate planning trouble later is to start talking about money early. New York Times provides some advice to encourage this discussion.

•  Know what is going on with the financial situation and work together to make decisions.
• Money represents each partner’s goals and fears. Grapple with the challenge of figuring out your partner’s views on what money represents to them and then try to work with these to come up with a common goal.
• Don’t let money be the last thing that you talk about with your partner. Learning early to have meaningful conversations about money can be very helpful throughout the marriage.

See Carl Richards, Your Financial Honeymoon Will Eventually End, The New York Times, Oct. 3, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this article to my attention.