This one may throw you for a loop. The most important decision you will ever make is: Who you decide to marry.
Yes. Synergy with your spouse is the number one way to ensure you reach your goals. Remember, your goal doesn’t need to be saving and investing. I know plenty of couples who keep up with the “Jones’s”. They buy the latest cars and furniture. As they earn more money they buy even more extravagant toys, such as boats and planes. They love that lifestyle, and as long as they have something to leave to their kids, they are justified in their spending. That is completely their prerogative. Also, at least they are spending together, so everyone’s happy.
Now if you want a more conservative lifestyle, it may be a little more difficult to find. Let me be clear, marrying a poor person doesn’t necessarily mean that you will find a thrifty spender either. In the military, it is very common for military members to find and marry strippers (for example). The relationship fails because the stripper’s mindset is always on the money. Given the choice to live a lifestyle in a suburb with a white picket fence or make cold hard cash, the stripper yearns for those money-making days. It is a mindset. There is being poor and there is being poor minded. (Disclaimer: not all strippers are this way, of course)
I got amazingly lucky with Kris. From the beginning we sort of moved into our roles. I was the main financial person in the house and Kris was the person who ran the household. Basically I was the person who kept the lights on. Over all the years, movements, emergencies, trips to see family, and children, we have always been on the same page. And now that we have begin our journey of growth, we are on that road together as well. I could not follow this path without Kris’s total support. I wake up everyday thanking the Lord that I found this special person.
My advice to single people: Read and learn about money and wealth, then create your own goals. When you meet up with new people be very detailed in telling them your plan. It is not very sexy but marrying the person with a different financial mindset is a recipe for disaster.
Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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