{"id":5659,"date":"2019-04-23T18:45:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T23:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billlosey.com\/?p=5659"},"modified":"2019-04-23T18:45:18","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T23:45:18","slug":"%ef%bb%bftaking-charge-of-your-financial-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/%ef%bb%bftaking-charge-of-your-financial-life\/","title":{"rendered":"\ufeffTaking Charge of Your Financial Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/strong>Delegating responsibilities to others may lead to problems down the road.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you are putting together\na household, it isn\u2019t unusual to delegate responsibilities. One spouse or\npartner may take on the laundry, while another takes on the shopping. You might\nalso decide which one of you vacuums and which one of you dusts. This is a\nperfectly fine way to divvy up household tasks and chores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One household task it\u2019s\nvaluable for both partners to take part in, however, is your shared financial\nlife. It\u2019s important, regardless of your level of wealth or stage of life.\nCounting on one spouse or partner to handle all financial decisions can create\na gap for the other partner. Should the one in charge of the money separate,\nbecome severely disabled, or pass away, that may leave the other partner in a\nbind. A situation like that is probably difficult enough without adding\nadditional stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study conducted in April\n2018 surveyed 1,662 American couples, covering households where one partner has\nprimary budgeting responsibility as well as couples where the responsibility is\nshared evenly. For the latter, 87% of respondents indicated that they were\n\u201cconfident\u201d in taking full responsibility, should it become necessary. For the\nformer, only 52% of those partners who were not actively involved indicated\nthat same confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Begin the conversation. <\/strong>If you are the partner who isn\u2019t steering the\nhousehold finances, ask yourself why. It may be that you have preconceived\nnotions about how difficult it might be to educate yourself to make informed\ndecisions. Maybe you know how to do it, but you would simply rather not be\nbothered. It\u2019s also possible that you recognize that your spouse or partner has\na particular expertise in these matters and doesn\u2019t need your help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of the reason,\nit\u2019s probably a good idea that you should at least be able to hop into the\ndriver\u2019s seat, should misfortune strike your household. In that unfortunate\ncircumstance, you should feel confident that whatever the reason or the\nduration, you won\u2019t have any unnecessary concerns about managing your\nhousehold\u2019s finances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, what if you have\ninsurance that covers extended care, in case of a severe injury that causes\nyour spouse or partner to be away from work for an indefinite period? How will\nyou be certain that the claim is made? Who will make sure the bills get paid?\nThe job will fall to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting involved. <\/strong>The good news is that through communication, regular\nconversations, and a little effort, you can probably learn what you need to\nknow in order to help yourself in these situations. Part of this, too, may be\nmeeting and getting to know the financial professional who works for your\nhousehold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it\u2019s your first time,\nstart simple. You may find worksheets helpful in guiding you on how to plan out\na monthly household budget. There\u2019s software that may help, but a budget\ndoesn\u2019t need to involve anything more than pen and paper, if you prefer. You\u2019ll\nfind several worksheets available online. You will also want to talk with your\nspouse or partner about the monthly budget they use, as it will likely be\nhelpful if you are both on the same page \u2013 perhaps, literally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more knowledge you\nhave, the more confident you can become. <\/strong>Starting the conversation is just the first step. It may take you some\ntime to become comfortable in taking a greater role in the decision-making, but\nwhen you do, you may feel more confident if the responsibility ever falls\nsolely to you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Delegating responsibilities to others may lead to problems down the road. When you are putting together a household, it isn\u2019t unusual to delegate responsibilities. One spouse or partner may take on the laundry, while another takes on the shopping. You […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}