subject: The Single Biggest Money Mistake Couples Make [print this page] Years ago, I got a phone call from a gentleman, and the moment he called, I knew without a doubt something was wrong. How? Because this man had never taken an interest in his and his wifes finances he had delegated the job to her, and he never dealt with it. She and I would meet every two or three years. She never could quite bring herself to hire us to handle things for her; she preferred to run things on her own and was comfortable pulling the trigger on the investment decisions. And I have to admit, she did a pretty good job.
So, as you can imagine, when her husband called I knew there was a problem. And sure enough, her health had taken a turn for the worse. She was literally on her death bed in the hospital when she told him that he didnt have to worry. Just come and see me, I would take care of him.
Of course I had some idea on the surface of what was going on but certainly had no idea of the financial details. But I found out. The husband came in with I think it was 37 different envelopes, empty envelopes with the return address of 37 different brokerage firms, mutual fund and insurance companies. His opening comment was, I have no idea what I have, or how much I have. My wife said you would take care of me. I think I have money with these companies. What do we do next?
And thats where we started.
To this day, we really dont know if we found everything. Somebody from the office went to his home and spent a day and a half just going through files and records. We think we found pretty much everything but we never really will truly know. And neither will he.
Its very common with couples that one person will take the lead or the responsibility for handling the money and finances. While the other spouse, will take a back seat. Were probably all guilty of this to one degree or another. I even do it in my own family. But we all need to ask ourselves, Whats going to happen to me or my spouse if they are not involved or informed of the day to day money situation or the investment decision making process? Whats going to happen to them if theyre the one that outlives their mate?
We see this all the time. Like with this gentleman. Hes now being forced to make financial decisions that hes not used to making and doesnt really want to make. And the person that he would lean on the most for support and confirmation that hes making good choices, has just passed away.
So think about that in your own situation. Even if youre doing a wonderful, admirable job (I assume, since youre reading this, youre the one involved in finances), what happens to your partner if he/she is not involved in the money or finances? If they havent been involved in any meetings with your financial advisor, will he/she have the trust and confidence necessary to follow thier guidance, to follow thier direction?
Its definitely something to think about and talk about with your spouse now. Before its too late.
Copyright (c) 2010 Brian Fricke
by: Brian Fricke
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