Financially Ever After: The Couples' Guide to Managing Money » (Original)

Jeff. D. Opdyke has written about personal finance, family finance, and the investment markets for The Wall Street Journal since 1993, and for six years he wrote the Journal's nationally syndicated "Love & Money" column. He is also the author of five previous books, including Financially Ever After. Jeff lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with his wife, Amy, and their two children.

Your Guide to Managing the Real Dollars—and the Real Emotions—of Your Relationship

Too often with money, couples face two choices: fight and risk making the situation worse, or keep quiet and risk making the situation worse. Financially Ever After offers a third option: family financial fluency—the insight, knowledge, and vocabulary every couple needs to communicate effectively about money.

Jeff D. Opdyke, previously The Wall Street Journal's syndicated "Love & Money" columnist, covers any and all financial issues that couples face, including budgeting, deciding on whether to have joint or individual accounts, dividing up family financial chores, confronting debt, making major purchases, as well as handling mortgages, employment, children, and even engagement rings. He offers dozens of real-life scenarios between couples, with scripts and suggestions for how to broach delicate money-related subjects with your significant other, whether he or she has a shaky credit history or is feeling left out of family financial decision-making.

The book also provides helpful tools to organize your financial life, such as a budgeting chart, a "scorecard" to track spending, and an "affordability calculator" to help you figure out how much buying a house will cost you.

A must-read for any couple starting out, Financially Ever After lays the groundwork for building a healthy and thriving financial life together.

Publishers Weekly

Opdyke, Wall Street Journal columnist, offers a sensitive and sensible manual for peaceably handling marital finances. Many newlyweds have difficulty handling the transition from being an independent agent, who can overspend like mad or pinch every penny till it screams, to a partner working to manage joint finances-the communication issues that crop up are myriad. When inevitable issues of power, independence, self-esteem, security and control come into play, the resulting arguments or silent avoidance can lead to terrible financial mistakes. Opdyke gives clear advice on managing both the real dollars and the real emotions of personal finance that course through every relationship, including scripts for questions partners should ask about each other's financial history, and gives cogent, easy-to-follow plans for the division of financial duties, budgets, prenuptial agreements and home-buying, particularly in light of the credit crunch. With its compassionate and pragmatic tone, this book is invaluable for newlyweds with stars still in their eyes-and longtime couples struggling to balance the emotional with the financial and ensure a healthy, thriving life together. (Apr.)

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Section 1 The Finances of Love: Money Matters Before Marriage 1

Chapter 1 Ten Questions every Couple Must Ask 15

Question 1 Do You Have a Basic Understanding of Money? 15

Question 2 What Is Your Money History? 20

Question 3 What Are Your Financial Aspirations? 25

Question 4 What Are Your Career Expectations? 27

Question 5 What Are Your Financial Assets and Liabilities? 31

Question 6 How Do You Use Debt? 35

Question 7 Will We Operate from One Checkbook . . . or Three? 45

Question 8 How Should We Divide Financial Duties? 57

Question 9 Do We Need a Prenuptial Agreement? 61

Question 10 Who Buys the Rock? 67

Section 2 A Family Affair: Money Matters After Marriage 73

Chapter 2 Money And Emotions 79

Chapter 3 Household Budgets: Our Daily Dollars 97

Chapter 4 Household Debts: In Love...And In Hock 145

Chapter 5 Household Savings: Investing for Tomorrow 181

Conclusion 221

Index 225