Talking Money With Your Spouse

MONEY SMART WOMEN

- Janet Bodnar

It seems that my column titled “Honey, We Need to Talk About Money” (see “Money Smart Women,” Jan.) struck a chord. A typical response: “You certainly could have been talking about my wife and me,” writes reader Del Richter.

As I wrote in January, when it comes to finances, women often suffer from an eyes-glaze-over syndrome that can be attributed to a number of reasons—lack of time, interest or confidence, to cite a few. Fortunately, Richter and others have come up with successful strategies to overcome a spouse’s resistance.

As he approached retirement, Richter launched what he calls “a multi-pronged underground campaign” to pique his wife’s interest. First he said, “Honey, you know when I retire there won’t be a paycheck coming in anymore, so we really need a forward-looking budget to see if we can continue this lifestyle.”