Customer Reviews

Money and Marriage: Making It Work Together--A Guide to Smart Money Management and Harmonious Communications

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is helpful information in this book, but I still didn't like it.

It's targeted at people about to marry, including the very important principle of figuring out whether you're as matched financially as you are in other ways. Since money is one of the hugest sources of arguments in marriage, knowing what attitudes you're marrying is crucial.

Unfortunately, it seems to be targeted also at very young couples, and the patronising, overly simplistic tone does not leave much room for argument. I don't like books where the author tells me "you should" this and "you should" that. It smacks too much of arrogance; there are just too many shades of gray. There's plenty of this tone in this book, and I found it off-putting. I also note the amount of psychobabble and the number of sweeping generalizations about men and women found in its pages. I don't know how much research this author did, but I know one thing: he's a CPA, not a therapist. It shows.

So saying, the actual *financial* information is useful. Just about everything is at least touched on, though being somewhat out of date now there's no mention of anything online. He looks at trusts, ways to teach children about money, wills, retirement funds, investments...a very wide range. Especially to a couple coming to marriage starry-eyed and naive, this book contains things to discuss and think about.

I might well have benefited from something like this when I married. I just feel that the psychobabble is too rigid, too one-size-fits-all, and doesn't really add much of anything to the mix. I would encourage a reader not to make this their only book about money and/or relating inside a marriage.

"Money and Marriage - Making it work together" was an easily accessible book that guides people through the obstacles that finances bring to a relationship. The book councils and directs the reader down a well lit path of information and understanding. Mr. Pybrum, the author, does not promise to get you rich quick or make you skinny in a week but he does try, and I believe he accomplishes his task, to point out problems both fiscal and emotional that a bankruptcy and divorce laden culture such as ours needs to be aware of. What's more he show methods and mantras by which a couple can guide themselves to a more harmonius love life and monetary future. I recommend the book whole heartedly to all young couples or as a great gift for a couple, especially a honeymoon gift!.

If you are planning to get married, this book would be wise reading to open your eyes to potential problems with your future spouse. If you're already married, it is very hard to move above the preachy, condescending attitudes of the author in order to find the bits of wisdom to help your marriage financially. It is too late to choose one's mate carefully (lest we jeopardize our potential net worth) unless we divorce and start all over again with someone else (not an option for me).

My husband and I have read this book and it has been so helpful to us. We have been married 12 years and we have had a lot of tense moments when it comes to managing and speiding money. We learned so much from this book about why we are different and what to do to smooth things out between us. We would like send our complements to the author...our relationship is so much closer and happier now.

My husband and I have read this book together. It has been very helpful and eye opening for us. We have struggled to provide and introduce our children to the type of life we have wanted them to know. This book has helped take a lot of the roadblocks to our success as a couple out of the way and we are more in love with each other than ever before. We have learned to be able to deal with difficult issues and we have learned how important it is to be looking for ways to improve our relationship skills. Now discussing small, difficult or money issus in our life are no longer difficult or agonizing. We have learned to calmly and politely sit down and talk with one another and work through together the issues of managing our household. We are sure glad we found this book and we refer it to our friends often.