Combining finances with your partner?
1 in 3 couples say money is a source of stress in their relationship.
If you're combining finances before marriage (or after) or as you cement a long-term partnership, how do you build a solid financial foundation and avoid fights about money?
How do you start a conversation about money that cuts the awkward and gets you on the same page?
Getting married does not magically combine your finances. You still have to openly discuss taboo topics, and track down your new spouse's old 401K.
We created a workbook with 28 prompts to jump start the conversation and make it easier to combine finances before marriage or after.
What's a great place to start? Ask your partner what they would do with a $20K bonus. This does not require them to reveal ALL their financial details, but it will help you understand if they have debt, if they save, etc. It will also get you more comfortable talking about money.
What's next? Ask if they have started to save for retirement and if they receive a match from their employer. This is another questions that let's you peek under the hood, and helps you understand how your partner manages their finances.
Want more? The Couples and Money workbook includes 28 prompts like the above to help you get started. It also outlines the pros and cons of different models of combining finances. Should you combine everything or keep everything separate? What about somewhere in between.
Sign up below to get started. It's $15 which we promise is cheaper than couples' therapy.
Meet Your Instructor
The program is facilitated by Eryn Schultz, a 2015 Harvard MBA with a passion for helping you take charge of your financial future. Eryn got married in 2020, and received a lot of advice on wedding flowers and registry items, but not a lot on how to combine finances with another adult human. Eryn wanted to share some of her learnings from teaching financial education classes to faculty at Mass General Hospital and high-earning women throughout the country in this workbook. Eryn has presented to women's groups at Amazon, Schlumberger, Harvard Business School, and Kellogg Business School, and has lead hundreds through her Money Bootcamps. Her work has been featured in national publications CNBC, NPR, Real Simple & Poets & Quants.
Eryn Schultz, MBA
My goal is to help YOU take charge of your financial future. Taking small actions today can up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in the future.
Founder of Her Personal Finance