Communication is key in a relationship, but that strongly depends on what you are communicating to your partner. Talking about education, child care, health, or lifestyle with your partner is important. But if you pay attention to finance discussions, you will likely avoid facing many money-related problems in the future.
There are certain money questions to ask your partner when discussing finance. These questions will help you assess the financial mindset of your partner, as well as their money goals.
More importantly, asking the right questions about money is an effective way to identify present and future financial problems in your relationship and how you can possibly solve them.
What Financial Questions Should You Ask As A Couple?
Ideally, the financial questions to ask your partner are meant to be concerned with savings, investments, debt, retirement, and even frugality. These are key areas in your personal finance that you must work hard to improve constantly.
Why Should Couples Talk About Money?
There are numerous valid reasons why couples should talk about money. But mainly, having financial discussions help couples to be transparent with each other about their money mindsets. For example, if you don’t ask the right questions, you may never know the critical financial mistakes your partner is making. Money questions can be an eye-opener.
Tips For Talking With Your Partner About Money
If you ever feel talking about money with your partner is difficult, here are some tips to help you have a good and productive conversation:
Don’t Make It A Big Deal
Although talking about money is quite important, you should make sure your partner believes that your relationship is independent of the outcome of your conversation. They could feel threatened and decide not to open up. Hence, please don’t make it a big deal.
Allow your partner to be relaxed, and ask the necessary questions casually. Moreover, when having a financial discussion with your partner, you can do it on a date or while watching a movie. This will prevent any form of tension from building up between the both of you.
Never Tell Lies
There’s no point in telling lies when talking about money with your partner. Ensure you are transparent. If you are not truthful about certain things, you may cause more damage in the future.
Remember, the main reason you are having a financial conversation with your partner is to be transparent with each other. You need to see what’s in your partner’s mind clearly, and so does your partner need to know yours. Hence, lying would defy the purpose of your conversation.
Talk About Money-Making Strategies
Having a set of money questions to ask your partner is good. However, developing money-making strategies in your conversation is much more important.
Regardless of the number of financial questions you ask your partner, there must be a verdict. That should be a decision on how to make your finances better. That’s exactly where strategizing comes in. You and your partner should think critically about brilliant ways to improve your income as soon as possible.
Lay Emphasis On Value, Not Only Numbers
Money is not all about numbers, but value as well. Sometimes, you need to make your partner see beyond the numbers. They need to recognize the value they are missing out on by making the wrong financial decision.
For example, if you are trying to make your partner see why health insurance is crucial, don’t always discuss the money spent. Instead, explain how health insurance can be a life-saving strategy during emergencies.
25 Money Questions To Ask Your Partner
Money Questions To Ask If You’re Newly Dating
If you recently started dating someone, you must know a lot about them. When it comes to learning about their finances, here are some money questions to ask:
1. What Are Your Financial Goals?
Everyone has financial goals. But sadly, not everyone has the ideal set of financial goals they ought to have. By asking this question, you can determine if your partner has responsible financial goals.
For example, someone in his 20s shouldn’t be in a hurry to live a luxurious life. Instead, such a person should be more concerned about his future being financially secure.
2. Do You Make Impulse Purchases?
This is one of the most important financial questions to ask your partner if you’re newly dating. Impulse buying is a common bad spending habit everyone must avoid in order to save money and maintain a budget.
Ensure your partner doesn’t make impulse purchases even if they are financially stable. You may only reach a few money goals if you keep spending money impulsively.
3. Do You Save Money?
Saving money is essential for achieving your financial goals. For example, buying a car or paying off a mortgage would not be possible if you find it hard to save money. Irrespective of how much your partner earns, setting aside a tiny amount of money every week or every month will make a difference over time.
For example, saving money in an emergency fund is a brilliant way to protect yourself from unexpected expenses or even a financial crisis.
4. What Would You Spend Your Money On If You Won The Lottery?
Although this may not seem like one of the conventional money questions for couples, it’s important you ask your partner. In the history of lottery winners, so many people squandered the millions of dollars they won from the lottery.
Someone could win $5 million and still suffer poverty after 3 years. You must ensure your partner has brilliant ideas on how to effectively manage and multiply money if they happen to win the lottery.
5. Do You Budget Your Income?
Budgeting is undoubtedly one of the best ways to improve your personal finance. Most people can’t figure out how to stop wasting money because they have failed to budget their income.
Whenever you build a budget, you are simply curbing your spending habit by limiting your spending power to certain purchases. Your budget will only allow you to spend money on essentials. You must ensure your partner is an individual who budgets their income every month.
If you want to learn more about budgeting, here’s a post that’ll teach you how to budget your money in 5 simple steps.
6. How Do You Manage Your Salary?
If your partner doesn’t know how to manage salary wisely, it won’t be easy to build a stable income. Your paycheck may not be much, but if you understand how to manage it effectively, you will do just fine.
You don’t have to earn a ton of money before you can pay your bills and reach your money goals. Once master smart ways to manage your salary, you will save money and even pay off debt.
7. Do You Pay Your Bills All By Yourself?
If you just started dating, this is one of the vital money questions to ask your partner. As a man or woman, you need to be with someone who can take full responsibility for their expenses.
No full-fledged adult should be relying on someone to pay the bills. Being in a relationship with someone like that will affect your finances drastically. Your partner may not be earning much money, but they should be able to pay their bills themselves.
Money Questions To Ask Before You Commit
If you are getting ready to fully commit to a relationship, here are the money questions to ask your partner:
1. Do You Want Your Spouse To Work Full-Time Or Part-Time?
There are full-time and part-time workers. But we all know that full-time workers earn more than those working only part-time.
If you want a spouse working full-time, you need to clarify that. If you prefer a partner who works part-time, you need to express your intentions as well. As long as your partner agrees with the idea, there’s no big deal. But more importantly, make sure that the decision favors you as a couple.
2. What Do You Waste Money On?
As much as we try to be frugal sometimes, there are a few things we are tempted to waste money on. Hence, this is one of the important money questions to ask your partner. Does your partner love to spend money on clothes, wristwatches, or sunglasses? It’s your job to find out.
If you eventually realize it’s something that can be overlooked, then you can carry on with your lives. But if you won’t tolerate it, you should properly discuss it with your partner.
3. Do You Want To Further Your Education In The Future?
Every year, trillions of dollars are being spent on education in the United States. On the other hand, some people take loans to attend college and later spend several years paying off student loans.
In a nutshell, education is costly, and you must be financially ready before pursuing any degree. It’s important you find out if your partner intends to return to college for another degree or to actually get a first degree. That’s a high cost you need to plan for as a couple.
4. Are You Currently Owing Money?
Millions of Americans are constantly owing debt, especially in credit. Chances are that your partner may have some outstanding debt to pay off. Hence, this is one of the money questions to ask your partner as soon as possible. If your partner has some debts to pay off, then both of you need to get to work immediately, devising strategies for paying off debt.
Moreover, you can check out this article that explains 10 helpful strategies for paying off debt faster.
5. What Assets And Accounts Do You Have?
According to most financial experts, one’s wealth is measured by how much money one has in assets. Whether your partner has assets or not, you need to find out by asking. If you later realize your partner doesn’t have any assets, that’s enough reason for you to start investing as a couple.
There are countless ways to invest and build assets. For example, buying stocks from a stable market is a brilliant idea.
6. How Many Hours Do You Work?
This is one of the reasonable financial questions to ask your partner. As employees, we know that the number of hours we work determines how much we earn. This is why some people are okay with working extra hours to increase their paycheck. That’s totally understandable. You may want your spouse to work many hours a week to earn more money.
On the other, however, you may want your partner to work only a short time in order to spend more time with each other. Irrespective of what you want regarding working hours, make it known and talk to your spouse about it.
7. Would You Like To Start A Business In The Future?
Starting a business requires capital. You will need to invest a certain amount of money in the business and expect it to flourish, helping you make more than you have invested. If your partner intends to start a business in the future, that’s a cost you must prepare for.
Make it a financial goal and start saving money toward it. You can also speak with an expert to get advice on the best entrepreneurial decisions to make.
Money Questions To Ask If You’re Married
As a married couple, you will have to manage your finances collectively. You will make most financial decisions together irrespective of who earns more money. Hence, here are important questions to ask your partner after tying the knot.
1. What’s Your Plan For Retirement?
This is one of the most important financial questions for married couples. You need to start planning for retirement as soon as possible. The earlier you begin to plan, the better.
As a couple, you can start investing in your retirement by building a retirement fund in an investment account. If you are still in your 20s or 30s, this is an amazing decision to make. However, make sure your partner agrees with retirement planning.
2. How Many Kids Do You Want To Raise?
You need many resources to take care of your children, but if you aren’t financially stable, you won’t be able to raise your kids right. You and your partner need to agree on the number of children you intend to raise.
For example, if you have only two kids, it’s easier to build a college fund for them. Having up to 4 kids will require you to save more money for a college education. This is why you and your spouse must determine the ideal number of kids you can conveniently cater to.
3. Do You Have Any Financial Commitments To Your Family?
Sometimes, people occasionally support their family members financially. If your partner happens to have such financial commitment, you must ensure that it doesn’t affect your income as a couple.
Offering financial support to extended family members is a good idea. In fact, it’s important that one should be able to support one’s parents or siblings when necessary financially. However, you shouldn’t do this to the detriment of your finances, and it should be done wisely. Hence, this is an important topic you need to discuss with your spouse.
4. Who’s Paying The Bills?
Of all the money questions to ask your significant other, this is one question you must never fail to ask. In some marriages, both the husband and wife pay the bills collectively. In some homes, however, only one person handles the expenses.
As a married couple, you must decide who pays the bills. Nonetheless, if both partners are working, it’s best they pay the bills together. That way, no one would feel cheated.
5. Would You Want Us To Combine Our Finances?
Some couples prefer combining their finances, while others prefer to build their income individually. You must know your partner’s preference concerning this.
If your spouse wants a combined income, and you are OK with it, you can go ahead and build together. Nevertheless, most financial advisors advise that couples have three main accounts: one for combining finances while the remaining two are used respectively by the husband and wife.
6. How Can We Grow Our Cash Flow?
Applying the right strategies to grow your income as a couple is essential. The more money you make, the more comfortable your lives would be.
Basically, increasing your cash flow means you have to find ways to make extra money. You can either work multiple jobs or start a side business to generate extra income. But regardless of the money-making technique you use, ensure your spouse agrees with it.
7. How Do We Plan For Our Children’s College Fund?
If you care about your children’s education, this is one of the most important money questions to ask your partner. You need to put your heads together as a couple and develop a strategy to pay for your children’s college education.
Usually, this would require you to set up a college fund. However, make sure the money you are saving for your children’s college education is in an investment account. This increases your savings by a certain percentage annually, 10-20% annually.
8. When Are You Retiring?
Knowing when your partner will retire is important. It does not mean you would have to retire at the same time, but it will help you both plan well for your retirement years. For example, if your partner intends to retire in 20 years, then retirement planning has to begin immediately.
9. Do You Plan To Go On Vacation Someday?
This has to be one of the essential questions to ask your partner about money. Most families usually plan to go on vacation, even if it’s just once. It’s simply an opportunity to unwind, rest from work, and enjoy yourself with your family. However, it’s not advisable to exhaust your savings because of a vacation.
Set up a savings account where you and your partner should save money for the vacation. Until you have realized enough money for the trip, keep saving.
10. Should We Give Our Children Allowances?
Most parents give their children pocket money occasionally. To know if this is something your spouse wants, you need to ask.
If your partner wants your children to be given allowances, and you don’t have a problem with it, you both can go ahead and raise your children that way. Giving your kids allowances might teach them a little about saving and managing money.
11. How Much Debt Can We Accept As A Family?
If you can’t afford to struggle to pay off debt, this is one of the critical questions about money to ask your partner. Although it’s possible to live without owing debt, it’s a very tough feat to achieve.
For instance, having credit cards means you’d always have to worry about paying off credit card debt. Every month, you need to clear your credit balance. But surprisingly, owing debt is not the problem. The main problem is owing too much debt that you’d be unable to pay off.
As a couple, you need to set a limit to how much debt you can accept. Even if you use credit cards, refrain from indulging in impulse buying. Curb your spending to avoid incurring too much credit card debt at the end of the month.
Final Words On Money Questions To Ask Your Partner
Now that you are acquainted with the right money questions to ask your partner, you should be able to make better financial decisions in your relationship or marriage.
More importantly, asking these questions will help you to know if you and your partner are financially compatible. That is, having the same money mindset, especially a positive one. It is the only way you and your spouse can collectively agree on how you want to manage your finances.
Pin this for later!
