Six Conversations Couples Should Be Having About Money Right Now

The pandemic hasn’t made talking about money easier – but it has made it more crucial than ever

- Sophia Benoit

Given that our culture can seem entirely focused on money, it can feel strange how hard it is to have a productive conversation about it. That can be especially true of romantic partners – which isn’t great because they’re probably the people you most need to talk to about money.

One study in the journal Family Relations found that arguing about money early on in a marriage is the number-one predictor of divorce. But you probably don’t need an academic paper to know talking about this stuff can be fraught. Everyone has their own incredibly personal relationship to money and how they spend, influenced by both practical constraints – your job, your income, the things you need to buy day-in and day-out. Then there are more nebulous emotional factors such as how our parents spent.

Now, of course, the pandemic has meant many people have lost jobs or needed to make expensive changes to their living situation. Even for the continuously-employed, the future is murkier than ever. It’s time to have some uncomfortable conversions with your S.O. to get on the same page about money.

But while trying to bring two people with different attitudes about money together to spend as a unit is difficult, it doesn’t have to be impossible. I spoke with Tiffany Aliche, a financial educator and the founder of The Budgetnista about what couples should be doing, what numbers they should be sharing, and six questions to help frame conversations around finances in a productive way.

01 What Are Our Goals?