Lack of compatibility in the financial arena leads to 41% of divorces. So, this Valentine’s Day, why not commit to talking about finances and making a plan to best set your relationship up for success?
Q4 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Talking Finance On Valentine's Day
Discussions about money are loaded with both the good and bad each partner brings to the relationship. On the positive side, wealth and its uses often make explicit a person’s core values and priorities. On the negative, wealth can surface painful issues from one’s past.
So how can couples wade into and through such uncertain territory?
David Wells, Consultant, Advisor to Family Offices, and author of the highly anticipated book, When Anything Is Possible has worked with countless couples on coming together to build a joint wealth identity and plan.
David's advice on how couples can talk about wealth in a productive manner:
- Dealing with Individual Wealth First: Much marital conflict regarding wealth has its roots in the fact that neither party in the relationship have wrestled their own issues regarding wealth to the ground. As such, we should not be surprised when our own issues and insecurities come face to face with our spouse and the results are highly combustible.
- Utilizing Tools to Help Articulate & Establish a Plan: David has developed a Money-Self Framework (“MSF”) which attempts to systematize in a single diagram all the various facets of life that could impact your thinking regarding wealth.
- Identifying Key Financial Issues: By identifying key areas before an emotionally charged moment occurs, dialogue can take place with lower emotional stakes. This allows each person to place issues with the right “owner” – i.e. what are my issues? Your issues? And our issues?
About David:
David has loved using strategic insights to drive organizations forward for as long as he can remember. Across his background as a 4x entrepreneur, board member of for and not-for-profit organizations, and an author, his focus is on helping to clearly distill the questions organizations face and then formulate an appropriate response.
