"If you don't make a change, bad things are going to happen in the future." You often hear financial planners use this sort of language to try to inspire you to pay down debt, increase your retirement savings, and so on.

The problem with this sort of sentiment is that it often does very little to actually *inspire* change. This sort of sentiment ignores a key step in the process to create meaningful and lasting change. We dive deeper into this concept - with an assist from a famous story - in this week's episode.

Most of us are hard-wired to focus more on our financial stresses and anxieties than our financial successes. And while there's certainly nothing wrong with spending most of your energy working on your financial stresses, spending too much time focusing on the negative can burn you out, make you disengage, or lead to money fights.

In this special Thanksgiving edition of the Money and Marriage Podcast, I talk through the benefits of starting financial conversations with what's going *well* rather than what's going wrong.

Back in Episode 102, I cautioned about relying on forecasts from "expert" mortgage lenders who expect mortgage rates to fall in the next year or two.

This statement prompted a great question that I wanted to discuss in this week's episode: what's the difference between making decisions based on these sorts of interest rate forecasts and making investment decisions based on expectations around how much you expect your investments to earn? Tune in to learn more!

To schedule a free consultation with me, visit https://pacesetterplanning.com/contact

It's hard to believe that I started my company seven years ago this week! In this episode, I share seven lessons that I've learned over the past seven years about money, marriage, and everything in between.

To book a free breakthrough session with me, visit https://pacesetterplanning.com/contact

Done right, financial planning protects your family's future - and sometimes, that means addressing questions that aren't fun to discuss. In this week's episode, I walk through a trend I'm seeing among the millennial couples I meet with, and why you might want to reconsider following this trend. Tune in to learn more!

Improper financial boundary issues can take many forms. Boundaries can be too rigid, too fluid, or not exist at all. Financial boundary issues can involve two spouses, their parents or in-laws, and their children.

We discuss all of these boundary issues - and more - in this week's podcast episode.

We throw around the word "risk" a lot in the financial planning world, but we don't always do a good job at having a multi-faceted discussion on the nature of financial risks and how to address each of them.

In this week's episode, we talk about the various types of risks that you face financially and discuss a framework for how to appropriately balance these risks.

Anger is a normal human emotion. If money is one of the primary sources of stress and conflicts for couples, it is only to be expected that anger related to financial decisions or situations in your family will arise from time to time.

In this week's episode, we talk about how to explore what your anger is trying to communicate to you, and how to appropriately navigate this emotion.

I don't think I've ever written an entire outline for a podcast episode, only to rip it up and talk about something completely different... but that's exactly what I did for this week's episode. Tune in to learn more!

If you want to set up a free breakthrough session with me, you can book a time on my calendar at https://pacesetterplanning.com/contact/

Too often, financial planners and media personalities gravitate to extreme positions. You can find respected financial professionals who will tell you that you should *always* combine *all* of your bank accounts, and you can find other respected financial professionals who will tell you that you should *never* combine *any* of your bank accounts.

In this week's episode, we have a more nuanced discussion on the topic.

To get a free download of the chapter in my book on setting up your bank account structure as an engaged or newlywed couple, head to https://marriagecenteredmoney.com/freechapter

(PS: I had a particularly bad case of hand, foot, and mouth disease while recording this episode - my apologies if my voice sounds off!)