Please Talk about Money–It’s Important

There were two things that my parents did not discuss with me. The other is money.

However when it comes to money, it must be discussed so that it can be understood. Maybe it’s because some are embarrassed to talk about money and ask questions if they do not understand something or some financial term. Maybe they feel they should already know the answer so they remain silent and ignorant rather than risking letting others know that they did not know or that they are just financially naïve.

The quite ones, as I like to call them, are assuming that others understand money or anything else better than them. The high income earning individual are always more successful at managing their money than someone who does not earn a lot of money. In all actuality, most have not received any formal education dealing with personal finances. So you believe that your knowledge is lacking when in fact others knowledge is well below your own.

So I give you the example of Richard and Sue. Richard and sue are a young couple living in a nice suburban community with a new baby girl. Richard works in construction and makes good money. When he gets paid he brings his check home to sue to manage. Sue is a hardworking home maker. Richard believes that Sue should handle the finances because she has more education than he does. Not financial education just more general education and Sue agreed. They do not talk about the money and Sue handles all the bills and even gives Richard money to eat lunch out every now and then.

After a while when Richard ask Sue for money or wants to eat lunch out Sue tells him he cannot. When Richard ask why she would get very defensive. Then the collection calls started. Gradually at first, but then every day and all day long. Eventually, someone came to repossess Richard’s truck. At this point Sue could not hide the financial problems that the family was having. Sue admitted to Richard that she had taken several pay day loans out and with the fees added they were thousands of dollars in debt.

Now in a debt trap, both Richard and Sue are a fault here. Richard for not being involved and Sue for not involving him. Richard finally understood that he needed to be involved in the family finances and Sue finally understood that she needed Richard input to best manage the family’s finances.

They started working together and talking about money. They sat down together and worked out a budget and a plan to get out of the debt they were in. After a while it became routine for the couple to talk about money. Richard and Sue developed some goals for the family such as buying a home and college for their little girl. Once they agreed they opened a savings account and started saving toward their goals.

This radical turn-around was the result of Richard and Sue now doing something they had not done before. They were now communicating about money and their finances something that their parents did not do. Times have changed and families must talk about and discuss money. Please talk about money, the result of those conversations will have a direct impact to the level of your prosperity.

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