Common Pitfalls Couples Make with Money

Welcome to another Q&A session of the Couple Money Podcast which is a follow-up on about money chats. Last show I talked about how to approach the topic of money with your spouse, but I didn’t cover some common pitfalls couples can make with them so I’ll mention them here.

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Letting Your Spouse Handle ALL the Finances

I know that there is usually one person who seems more interested in the number crunching, budgeting, and investing portion of finances. We all have strengths and go ahead let someone do what they enjoy. However that does not mean that the other spouse is left in the dark or has no say.

You may not like to budget, but you should have input with how you spend your money. You can not leave all the responsibility in one person’s hand, it’s not fair to either spouse.

Should something happen to the one managing the money, then where will that leave the other? Both of you are responsible and both of you have a say.

Financial Say is Based on Income

Couples are unique and each family has their own financial situation. Sometimes both spouses work outside the home, perhaps one is self-employed, or maybe one spouse works for income while the other manages the home and children.

Each couple has to decide what works best for them, but what should be an agreement in all these situations is that both spouses have a say. If one spouse earns less or is a stay at home parent, they still have input and it is not proportional to their income.

If you grant financial say based on income earned, stop this right away. This harmful money habit can lead to resentment and that can erode your relationship.