Your IndustryNov 28 2018

All you need is love and understanding

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All you need is love and understanding
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Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of being asked to be part of the panel at the Love and Money event in London, hosted by the Money Advice Service in partnership with Relate and The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. 

The time was spent exploring relationships and money and the interactions between love and finance.

We examined the implications of how the money guidance, relationship support, and financial advice and planning sectors could support couples to talk about money.

Disagreements over finances are a major source of conflict in relationships.

Healthier relationships and planners’ understanding of how these can be achieved means a more constructive approach to planning couples’ finances for the future.

Relationships can also pose challenges for couples’ money management. If couples have different approaches or attitudes towards money, this can create difficulties, and conflicts over finances can have deeper roots in underlying relationship dynamics.

Dealing with conflicting approaches towards money is therefore a significant challenge for financial planners/advisers, as well as for relationship counsellors and therapists, but what was clear that evening was that, through working together and learning from each other across sectors, we may be able to improve the information, guidance, and support for consumers to talk about money and work together on their finances. 

These discussions and the comments contributed by the audience brought together all sectors to try to develop a more holistic and cross-sector understanding of the issues and to identify ways forward for collaboration, in order to help couples to talk about money.

We were able to identify ways of improving our professional practice, drawing on insights from research and practice across the different sectors. There was much synergy between financial planners, the Relate counsellors, MAS and the academics also on the panel. 

I believe there is a great opportunity for these groups to work together and share ideas, training and influence on government bodies for funding and innovation inthis area.

We should explore these to work collaboratively, increase coordination and deliver new solutions for our clients.

Healthier relationships and planners’ understanding of how these can be achieved means a more constructive approach to planning couples’ finances for the future.

Marlene Outrim is managing director of Uniq Family Wealth