Dear GirlShrink,
My husband is horrible with managing our finances. And while I pay all the bills, he likes to have a major say in how we spend our money. Which he doesn’t do smartly. He thinks he is a good business person. But he isn’t. He makes decisions based on living for today and not planning for the future. He thinks we are going to hit some big pay dirt soon which will solve all our problems. What should I do? I married him. I’ve got to make this work.
Michaela
Vancouver, BC
Dear Michaela,
Your husband sounds like so many others – thinking that money is going to solve their financial problems. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Don’t we know a ton of stories about famous millionaires who went broke or were driven to addiction. Now having said that, it sounds like your husband probably came from a background where sound financial principles were not applied. He may not know how to “plan” and perhaps looks at is as a sign of weakness or a sign of being pessimistic. He rather believe that a big windfall will call to solve your economic crisis – than to plan for the chance that it may or may not happen.
I would take this seriously though. As you know, money is the #1 cause of divorce in today’s modern marriage. I would seriously consider talking to a financial planner about putting you both on a budget. Sometimes the visit acts more like a therapy session then you could imagine! An outside person can perhaps shed some light on your financial health that he was unable to hear from you.
Get him to agree to one meeting with a financial planner – and take it from there.
