(영어로 된 원본을 그대로 올렸습니다. 시간 될 때 한글로 번역해서 업데잇 하겠습니다.)
In order to have an effective financial plan, it is important to be somewhat aligned with your spouse or partner. I come across a lot of cases in which the client or prospect is not fully aligned with their spouse/partner. (I’ll use the term “partner” as a catch-all phrase here.)
It is important to note that the goal isn’t to achieve 100% alignment. It is natural to expect some differences with the other partner. That’s actually a completely natural phenomenon, as your partner will likely have different upbringing and family values, etc.
What sort of ‘misalignment’ is acceptable?
It is important to realize that each individual will have a separate “risk profile” when it comes to finances. It is also okay, in my experience, that one person can be much more ‘finance oriented’ than the other person. However, even if only one spouse or partner is the main ‘finance person’ in the relationship, there needs to be a general level of agreement between the two people.
Again, the point isn’t to have a 100% alignment, but there should be some sort of agreement between the two people on big topics such as spending, saving and investing. And it is somewhat important for each person to try to meet the other person ‘half-way’, rather than to try to make the other person come to see things your way.
What sort of ‘misalignment’ is a not good?
Hiring a financial planner cannot be a one-person decision if there is a partner in the mix. Sometimes I have to encourage prospects to ensure they are aligned with their spouse or partner before the initial consultation. If not, then they are wasting their time and mine. But what sometimes happens is worse … if the prospect reaches out, and spouse doesn’t agree, it actually becomes ‘one step forward, two steps back’ because they are now in disagreement. The prospect’s feelings might be also hurt in the process, and same goes for the spouse because they were not consulted.
I’m not saying that they need to be equally involved. In fact, we should expect that the other partner will have a different level of interest, knowledge, etc toward finances. Regardless of the relationship dynamics and stylistic differences, at a minimum there should be a mutual understanding and respect for the other partner.
One of the interesting developments when discussing financial plans with both partners/spouses present in the meetings is that sometimes the sessions lead to small discoveries about the other partner’s goals, values and preferences that were not known before the financial planning project. Although the sessions are not meant to be therapy sessions, there is definitely a benefit to discussing financial goals in the presence of an unbiased professional in a safe environment.