Financial Mistakes That Can Wreak Havoc in Your Married Life – Avert Them to Stay Safe
It is nothing new that disagreements over financial matters is one of the primary reasons behind couples ending up in the divorce court. Although financial advice for married couples is readily available, yet they prefer continuing their fight over petty fiscal issues. If you and your partner are like most other couples, chances are high that you fight about money.
While you might hear advices that tell you to talk about money with your partner, talking is not always the only trick that works. In fact according to a study by a famous magazine group, it has been found out that 75% of couples talk about money every week. Still where's the problem? The problem is that most of us don't know how to talk about money as most couples tend to be emotional and reactive about money rather than being strategic. When emotions take a grip on you, you tend to take wrong fiscal decisions and this leads to couples drowning in debt. If you want to follow a debt free life, educate yourself on the most common fiscal mistakes that can wreck your married life.
- Combining your finances: One of the biggest issues that the newlyweds usually face is how to handle their finances. Most couples are struggling with this as they wonder whether or not they should merge everything and have a joint single account or whether they should have individual personal accounts and a joint account only for household expenses. A survey shows that 65% couples put their money in joint accounts and the rest of them keep everything in separate accounts. For the newlyweds, the choice should be somewhere in the middle as you should have some autonomy money. When one spouse enters into a hefty debt load, the other spouse can use his/her funds to help the other.
Coaches, Coaches Everywhere!
They say those who can, do; those who can't, coach...
While I don't totally agree with it, I believe there is a hint of truth to it. This can be evidenced by the gamut of "coaches" that you can find in various industries nowadays.
Being a financial coach, it is important for me to stay aware as to what other coaches in the market are doing. I like to make sure that what we teach is still relevant and at the forefront of the financial coaching spectrum. I also like to see what I can learn from others and where I can improve.
However, I can tell you that I was NOT prepared to find such a large number of folks claiming to be financial coaches. It seems just about everyone is throwing up a blog with some tips on how to budget and using it to call themselves a financial coach.
For the individual who is looking to work with a financial coach, how do you find a good one?
Although it can be overwhelming, it really boils down to the following:
Sneaky ATM Fees
Many banks are now allowing you to take cash out at an ATM even if you don't have enough in your account. This may sound generous of them until you realize they are doing this to make big overdraft fees from you.
Of course, it would be easy for the bank to program the ATM to alert you if you try to take more than you have in the account, so the intention is clear. They want those fees, even if getting them comes from a mistake on your part. To avoid this, check your balance before you make a withdrawal (so far there is no fee for this).
This article comes from Steve Gillman's Secret Information Newsletter. I highly recommend checking out Steve's site: https://everywaytomakemoney.com/
Are You Scared of Being Wealthy?
I find that for a lot of people, pursuing wealth is a frightening endeavor, not because they are afraid of failing, but because they are scared of actually succeeding in becoming wealthy.
Many feel that they don't deserve to be wealthy. They perceive financial freedom as being so far out of reach, that they find all kinds of excuses to not pursue it.
On the flip side though, a lot of people feel they can "get rich quick". By playing the lottery, gambling at casinos or partaking in other get rich quick schemes, they think there's some easy way to get a lot of money.
The different perception of getting rich vs. building wealth is the only reason I titled my book "Getting Rich is Simple...But It Ain't Easy!" instead of "Financial Freedom is Simple...". I knew the current title would likely get more readers because people are looking for the magic pill to take, or magic wand to wave and then just watch riches fall into their lap.
New Money is SUPPOSED to Become Old Money
In the financial classic, The Millionaire Next Door, it was shown that 80% of millionaire households are first generation. This is encouraging because it proves that just about anyone can achieve true wealth. But it is also a little disturbing because it shows that much of that wealth is NOT being passed down to future generations.
Now, I know some of you may be thinking, "I don't want my kids to just inherit millions; I want them to work for it like I did" or "I don't want them to be spoiled rich kids thinking the world is owed to them". That's understandable to feel that way. But know that the stereotypical "rich brat" that we see on TV is an exception, NOT the norm.
Having THINGS is OK
In a day and age where material excess has been the cause of financial disaster for lots of people, we find that many tend to misunderstand that having material possessions is NOT a bad thing.
The problem is that most don't know how to have balance; they instead are either at one extreme or the other.
What do I mean?
Well, they are either at one end of the spectrum where they are frivously spending money they don't have, maxing out credit cards, over leveraging themselves to purchase things.
Digging themselves deeper and deeper in debt, stressing themselves out to "keep up with the Joneses".
But I've heard it said several times over the past few years, "quit trying to keep up with the Joneses, because the Joneses are broke also!!"