For Love or Money?

It is often said that the love of money is the root of all evil. In our attempt to keep up with the Joneses (and the Beckhams), money can be the cause of many relationship battles. With the likes of hefty mortgages, fancy cars and plasma television screens to be shared, how do we prevent or handle those inevitable money woes?

In the 1920s classic novel The Great Gatsby, the theme of wealth versus love ran rampant as Jay Gatsby accumulated wealth way beyond his means, all so he could please and glorify his money-hungry girlfriend Daisy.

In the latest Woody Allen film Matchpoint, a penniless tennis coach (played by Jonathan Rhys Myers) falls in love with the alluring Scarlett Johansson, yet he chooses to marry a wealthy (and much less attractive) woman instead, in hope of keeping up his extravagant lifestyle.
So herein lies the ultimate question: can money really buy happiness? Or is it more likely to wreak havoc on relationships?

A recent study by the Creighton University Center for Marriage and Family suggests that money was among the top three biggest obstacles to satisfaction in the lives of young, newly married couples. (The other two barriers were time and sex.)

The book Financially Fit For Life notes that while a good relationship can bring huge financial benefits, discussing finances with your partner can be very tricky indeed. "It raises a whole host of sensitive issues, such as whether the person who earns more money has more say in financial matters, how much each partner should be keeping as 'private' money, and generally how much trust there is in the relationship."

And if one of you is conservative with money while the other is a spendthrift? Financial advisor David Bach, the best-selling author of the Finish Rich series, suggests couples should set up some financial ground rules to avoid any sort of mess. He advocates putting into place a "his, hers, ours" arrangement whereby couples set up a joint account with 75 per cent of their money and keep the other 25 per cent for themselves. (Sounds simple enough, right?)

Yet former Playboy model Donna Spangler, author of How To Marry A Rich Man, suggests taking a different tack and simply marrying a rich bloke instead. "Even the most independent woman wants a man who will dote on her, treat her like a princess, and support her and her ambitions." Not even Maureen Dowd can argue with that.

But Spangler advises us to beware of those who aren't the real deal, lingering around with false ATM receipts. Yes, much to our horror, the "ATM-itation" is the newest phenomenon to hit the singles scene. Apparently, when meeting a girl at the bar, a desperate bloke will write his phone number on the back of a receipt that says he's withdrawn $400 and has a balance of $314,159.26.
Yet we can't blame the poor blokes for trying. As Aristotle Onassis once said "If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning."

How do you prevent those money woes?