KNOWLEDGE

Talking Finance with your Partner - Talk Money Week Part 2

Morton Fraser Wealth and Pension Planner Norman Dalgleish
Author
Norman Dalgleish
Wealth and Pension Planner
PUBLISHED:
08 November 2022
Audience:
category:
Blog

Talk Money Week is an annual campaign that is designed to get people talking about money. All of us involved in the financial advice profession are well aware of the ability for money to be a source of stress and anxiety. Advice and planning can help to mitigate this. But so too can the simple act of talking about it. This week we look at who you should be talking with.

Yesterday we talked about the conversation you need to have with yourself about your finances, but often these are intertwined with your partner's financial position so it is vital to involve them in the conversation. Sadly, numerous surveys show that this is often a conversation that couples fail to have. 

This lack of a conversation often comes from where one partner "deals with all the finances" and whilst this may be true from an administrative point of view, it will always be the case that both partners have a view about the future, about what is important to them, and about the relative priorities of all of those hopes. 

Having this conversation is therefore vital in terms of long term planning.  It is clearly also retrospectively even more important in the event of a bereavement of one partner, particularly if that is of the partner who has dealt with all of the financial issues.

There are also many reasons why one partner may feel embarrassed and look to effectively hide their financial position from their partner. This would often be in the form of debts that are effectively being hidden, perhaps through gambling or just simply maintaining the family's lifestyle beyond the income that is being received. 

Whist perhaps easier said than done, it is vital that these issues are brought out into the open both from a financial planning but also from a relationship perspective.

Disclaimer

The content of this webpage is for information only and is not intended to be construed as legal advice and should not be treated as a substitute for specific advice. Morton Fraser LLP accepts no responsibility for the content of any third party website to which this webpage refers.  Morton Fraser LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.