When it comes to planning for money and investments, often, the spouse has little idea of what’s happening. This is what we have often seen. And this is far from ideal. In fact, in our view, it’s undesirable, for we believe that when it comes to aspects of financial life, your spouse must be in the know. So, to your the language of business, have you onboarded your spouse for financial decision making?
What made us think about this? Well, recently, we met a male prospect online. The discussion was good. Then we felt the need to involve his spouse. Later, we met with the couple. The husband was convinced that they needed our services to clear clutter at their end and design a simple path to achieve their goal. The wife, however, was not thinking along the same lines. This divergence does not help create coherent investment strategies for communal life. The meeting reemphasized the vitality of the need for involving the spouse in such life forming decision paths.
Many women shy away from anything related to money. At times, some husbands don’t include them in the discussion. True, one spouse may lead decisions when it comes to money matters, but, in our experience, when both parties are involved, it delivers more fulfilling journeys. It’s why, as far as possible and permitted, we work hard to involve husband and wife in significant investment decisions. It works. And it pays off handsomely.
5 reasons why Should you onboard Spouse?
Goals are for the family: You live for the family. It makes sense to keep them in the loop. Noteworthy, too, is the fact that your spouse will have different perspectives on goal setting and achievement. Respect, listen and discuss them for the sake of harmonious living.
Belongingness: If they own a decision, they are motivated to be responsible for it. It always works. Belongingness develops. The feeling of being acknowledged enhances the weight of the decision and improves the commitment to execute.
Different Perspective: Remember, men and women think differently. Respecting this difference can enrich the thought process and help arrive at better, more participative, and fairer decisions. For example – many of our client’s spouse came with ideas of long term care, retirement home etc. Multiple ways of looking at life exist and should be a part of the investment journey.
Awareness: Life is uncertain. Family members should be aware of your financial dealings, investments etc. Understanding of investments, assets, liabilities, resources, responsibilities is an integral part of family life and must involve the core family unit.
Make it as a family: I am from a business family. Business discussions were all around when I was growing up, but, until very recently, I didn’t know much about family asset matters. Money is not spoken about freely in most Indian families. It needs to be approached with less hesitancy. Knowledge is power. Knowing the purpose of money and the role it plays in life is a valuable life lesson for more than just one member of the family.
Never forget If you are married, it is a capital idea to ensure your spouse is not left in the dark about money matters. This is because money, family and life planning go hand in hand. Always.