Till Debt Do Us Part

This article by Loftus on Psychology Today discussed the different issues financial situations cause in relationships. In the article Loftus says: "A breach of fiscal trust is more destabilizing to marriage than a sexual affair." It seems so obvious when you read it, but it had me thinking for a little bit. You can "brush off" an affair through emotional means and get on with your day, but you cannot simply look past financial distrust. Without a stable financial relationship, life can't happen. No matter how much you adore your partner, if they somehow destroy your finances, you can't simply leave them in the dust and live a better life. You are stuck in the mess together.

What I'm realizing reading all of these articles about money is that money is a sensitive topic for everyone. Money is obviously needed to live day by day. Thus, when there is a problem that occurs regarding money, it feels like a personal attack on life. In addition to that, no one likes to talk about money in public. People don't want to discuss salaries, which often leads to some people being underpaid. (I'm going to go on a slight tangent about salaries and not marriage) If people were to talk about their salaries public with coworkers, a lot more people would be living happier lives. They would have some leverage to argue or discuss the difference in wages in the jobs that they do.

Anyway, I think that discussions about money should be more open. It seems so obvious to me that relationships would work out much more often if each partner did not feel the need to hide anything about their past and present financial situations.