Financial Friction? Money Strategies that Will Help Your Marriage

Unity Builder #4: Believe The Best Of Your Spouse

It will always be hard to become one team unless you let yourself believe what is almost certainly true: Your spouse deeply cares about you and has your best interest at heart—even when they handle money in a way that frustrates you. In research for our book Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages, we discovered that with very, very few exceptions, most spouses truly do care about their mate. And believing that in the face of legitimate hurt (since we all hurt each other at times) was the most foundational step toward a thriving marriage.

So when you find yourself upset by a financial choice your spouse has made, or you feel a bit disregarded, remember that they do care about you, and work to understand what is underneath their actions.  You’ll be far better able to help them honor what you care about, if you believe the best of them and try to understand them, first.

Thankfully, with a little know-how and a willing heart, couples can leverage their management of money to work for their marriage rather than against it. For more details on money habits that will help your marriage thrive, visit our website to take the free assessment or read more in our newest book, Thriving in Love and Money.

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Shaunti Feldhahn loves sharing eye-opening information that helps people thrive in life and relationships. She herself started out with a Harvard graduate degree and Wall Street credentials but no clue about life. After an unexpected shift into relationship research for average people like her, she now is a popular speaker and author of best-selling books about men, women and relationships. (Including For Women Only, For Men Only, and the groundbreaking The Good News About Marriage).

Her latest book, Thriving in Love and Money, uncovers the issues that cause money conflicts and provide couples with truths that are relationship game-changers. Because you need a better relationship, not just a better budget.

Visit www.shaunti.com for more.