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Certified financial educator weighs in on talking finances as a couple

Posted at 2:52 PM, Feb 09, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-09 14:52:57-05

As we move closer to Valentine's Day, the one thing you don't want to do is get into an argument with your significant other over money.

A lack of communication about your finances can be one of the quickest ways to a break-up and leave you holding a heart shaped box of chocolates with no one to give them to.

"It's always a good thing to communicate about it because people have different beliefs about money different philosophies and if you're not on the same page as a couple that can be can be really, really dangerous at some level,” said Steve Siebold, a certified financial educator and the author of the book, How Money Works.

Steve says there's a few things to think about when it comes to your relationship and money.

"Make sure that you know if it's some small expenditure, that your significant other has made that you don't agree with you might want to let that one go,” Siebold said. “But maybe something large that's going to impact your financial future might want to have a conversation about that."

Siebold also says steering clear of the "me versus you" scenario can be very helpful.

"And obviously that can be very dangerous for relationships, so I think no matter who makes the money you're a team, and you split the money down in the middle, no matter who makes you know more or less. And I think that's probably the best, the best strategy for long term or long-term relationship."

And above all else he says leave the emotion out of it.

Earning money [and] emotion of money just don't go together. They're like oil and water. So, you want to keep the conversations as logic based as you possibly can because you're just talking about numbers. It doesn't mean anything except the meaning we assigned to it, and it's just it's just a medium of exchange."