Families and Finances: Communication is Key

Face Money Topics Head-On to Accomplish Your Family Financial Goals

Monday, 21 September 2020

Do families and finances strike you as two words that don’t belong together? If so, you’re not alone. Money is a topic people often avoid discussing with family members – and even with their spouse or partner. It could be because they find it confusing or overwhelming, or because it often leads to disagreements and bad feelings. The fact that personal finance isn’t taught in most schools can also lead people to believe it’s not important.

All of these things are true: money is a charged topic that can leave us feeling confused, overwhelmed, or even angry, and most of us aren’t educated enough about money topics. Yet, these are the exact same reasons it is crucial to maintain open communication about financial issues within your family. Avoiding or ignoring this very real element of family life only sets you up for failure, whereas talking openly with your spouse and children is the best way to accomplish your financial and life goals together.

Below, we’ll discuss why you should consider finances a family affair, and why communication is the foundation of any family’s financial success.

• CONTINUE READING

Fermi's Paradox and Your Money Story

By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA

Monday, 24 July 2017

I was listening to a podcast recently that got me thinking about being alone in the universe. The podcast began with a journalist, who also happened to be a particle physicist, who was having an emotional conflict with a science principle known as Fermi’s Paradox which states that there is an enormous probability that we are completely alone in the universe. This journalist explained that it made him feel really sad every time he thought of Fermi’s Paradox. His perspective was, “If we are alone…completely alone in the universe, then that means…this is it. There is nothing else out there that we can learn from or experience beyond what we, as human beings, can create.”

I hadn't really given it much thought before, but it was sort of sad if you thought of it the way he did. But then I had another thought. What if we are 100% alone in the universe, and it is up to us to explore, and chart, and amass great knowledge of this inconceivable giant space called the universe. It isn’t really sad. It’s exciting and a little scary and an enormous responsibility.

• CONTINUE READING