FINANCIAL INCLUSIVENESS IN MARRIAGE Marriage is a union between two (2) individuals from very different backgrounds having very different orientation as it relates to Finance. Finance is usually one, if not, the major cause of friction in a marriage. The reasons causing the financial problems stem from the ordinary and sometimes to even the absurd. Our Culture has defined the role that the men had to play in a marriage relationship. The men have generally been regarded as those who went out to work and provide for the family. The women are regarded as endowed with the role of having babies, caring for them and taking care of the home front, generally. These defined roles were passed on from our grandparents over time as everybody knew his or her role and had skills that were equal to those roles. But as we started aligning ourselves with the changing world system, we have realized that these Traditional roles we have defined for ourselves could no longer be sustained. In our developing society, the pressure usually placed on the family are quite enormous that the Mans resources have been discovered not to be enough to sustain the family as a whole especially considering our culture of marriage being more of marriage to relatives et al. The focus here is to dwell more on what might be dubbed “Financial Arithmetic” for a long lasting marriage relationship. In this day are time, it is required that the two parties (Man & woman) should work in harmony 6 so as to accomplish a mutual vision. The vision is to keep the family financially secure and ensure that frictions are eliminated to the barest minimum. This will enable complimentary designs that enable them to fulfill Gods plan of a lasting relationship. This is not a foolproof or straight jacketed remedy to solve financial issues in marriages but it is a recommendation which, practically, has allowed for some form of involvement by both parties in the decisions of finance which in turn will lead to less stress as it will lead to openness in their relationship. I have discovered that openness(being able to communicate in concrete terms to one another) has been an antidote to family financial Issues. To make this “Financial Arithmetic” work, both parties must be able to communicate freely to one another without any inhibition, The major issue here is being able to disclose, truthfully, their earnings to one another. Both parties should be able to make variations/combinations of the formula if the understand the concept being propagated here. The assumption, which I believe is valid here, is that the man as the head of the home is being supported by the woman therefore he (the Man) should not assume or believe that it is compulsory that the woman must abide by this “formula”. This arrangement will only be meaningful if both partners are able to patiently lean the act of Budgeting. Budgeting is another useful tool that creates openness in the family as it ensures that both partners are involved in the way funds (money) are disbursed in the family. This will eliminate the feeling of secrecy and ensure that none of the partners think that funds are hidden somewhere which is not made know to the other. Budgeting can be defined simply as the act of having a pictorial projection, in financial terms, the Income expected to be received and the expenditure expected to be made over a defined period of time. The reason for having a Budget is for the whole family to be able to match the expected expenditure with the anticipated Income over a period of time. Budgets can be made at anytime as the family do not necessarily have to wait for the beginning of the year before they can have a Budget.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 05:35:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015