Saving, spending and spouses

When one spouse is primarily a saver and the other a spender, you may think it spells trouble—but that’s not necessarily so. If the couple takes the proper steps and collaborates, they can arrive at a healthy middle ground.

Finding a balance

Turning conflict into resolution is a process that addresses two fronts: personal and financial. On the personal side, the couple benefits if both spouses explain why they save or spend the way they do, and each one tries to understand what’s behind their spouse’s mindset. Ideally, each person should look for the potential benefits in the other’s saving or spending approach. Through communication and compromise, the couple can aim for a balance between financial stability and enjoying life now.

The financial side is all about establishing shared goals. Start by reaching an agreement on short-term and longer-term goals, such as taking a vacation, purchasing a home or vacation property, and funding retirement. This may also involve compromising. Next, consider asking for our help to determine how much to regularly save. Knowing this amount may show the saver they can afford to spend more on wants or prove to the spender they need to cut back on extravagant purchases.

Being like-minded may carry risk

Interestingly, when both spouses are mainly savers or both are spenders, the couple may still have issues to resolve. Two savers may have no worries about retirement, but the couple risks enjoying life less in the meantime. If two spenders live for the present at the expense of planning for the future, they might regret their free-spending ways upon retirement. Just like a couple with conflicting approaches, a like-minded couple may be better off finding a healthy balance between saving and spending.