Читать книгу The Barefoot Investor - Scott Pape - Страница 27

Now if you stole my wife's purse … she'd be very upset.

And you'd find the same debit card as mine (and a lovely picture of our family — no dogs).

See, one of our iron-clad rules is that we keep the same account.

No, not like cute matching cards so that we're colour coordinated. And no, not just one card between us. (That would be weird: ‘Honey, I'm just popping down the shops. Can I have the card?’)

What I mean is that we have separate cards for the same bank accounts.

And, most importantly, we have an agreement that we can each spend up to $400 on whatever we choose. No need to ask for permission. Anything over that we talk about, and make a joint decision.

(And that's a good thing. Personally, I am deeply offended by how much her hairdresser charges. My barber hasn't changed his ‘$20 short back and sides’ pricing in 15 years. Though, admittedly, she looks a lot better than I do.)

It's my firm belief that if you're in a healthy, trusting relationship, you should be sharing the same bank account, and all your finances.

That said, I've sat across the table from many women (and yes it's almost always women), whose partners have used money as a form of control. One of the first things I do is help them to set up a separate escape fund, so they can (eventually) get the hell out of there. If you think this could happen to you, don't share any accounts.

If you're already in this situation, I strongly suggest you sit down with a financial counsellor (call 1800 007 007) and get a game plan sorted.