Get Financially Naked is a fun, quick read on the importance of talking about your finances with your significant other. There are some great insights on how to talk about the most important aspects of money. The more you share, the better your future is bound to be.
Author Bios: Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar have their MBA's and CFA's and are also the coauthors of “On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl's Guide To Personal Finance.”
Publisher / Physical Description: Adams Media. Paper back. 148-pages of easy reading.
Summary: With a tag-line of “how to talk money with your honey,” how can you not like a book with this kind of wit? Personal finance books tend to be a little bit mundane and redundant, but not so with Manisha and Sharon's latest offering.
Get Financially Naked Review
The first point of interest simply lies on page two. All page two says is “To All Women…” As I am not a woman, I immediately began preparing myself for some male criticism. Does ‘To All Women” really mean “Stay Away All Men”? To my relief, the real meaning of page two is about empowering women to become financially independent on their own.
Getting financially naked really is about having as clear of an understanding of each partner's finances as possible. The authors don't want women to one day wake up realizing all their money is gone after their husband invested their finances in some unscrupulous investment.
Women need to have a full grasp of each others finances so that there are no surprises. Even before marriage, our authors go through steps to discover whether a couple is financially compatible. Financial matters shouldn't be taboo among serious couples.
Related: Why Women Need More Retirement Planning Than Men
Use The 5 Power Steps For Greater Wealth
“The Five Power Steps To Financial Success” provides useful tips on dealing with the five key lifetime expenses: home, car, retirement, kids, and extended family. For better or worse, you get the family too!
One of the most eye-popping nugget of information is that the average cost to raise a child from birth to 17 is $184,000! Move to NYC or San Francisco, perhaps that figure is closer to $300,000.
The book concludes with some simple tips on savings and investments, namely with the objective of keeping things simple. But, this is not a book about savings and investments, it's a book about improving communication.
The Appendix contains a wonderful list of answers to scenario questions such as “Should we combine bank accounts now that we've moved in together” and “What do we do because I'm a saver and he's a spender?”
In summary, “Get Financially Naked” is a wonderful little book for women and even men to read. The key message is about improving communication between couples so that money becomes a natural point of discussion.
For those women who find opening up about finances to be especially difficult, this book is especially for you! And for guys, it's like reading the occasional Cosmopolitan magazine. Seeing a different perspective helps widen your own perspectives!
Improve Your Finances And Get Financially Naked
Here are some additional resources I’ve put together that will help you on your financial journey to earn more, save more, and hopefully double or triple your income!
- Take advantage of free online financial tools: Free Wealth Management
- Explore my top financial products recommendations
- Learn how much you should aim to have saved in your 401(k) by different ages. The numbers could surprise you.
- Look beyond your salary and start earning passive income. Here are the best passive income streams I recommend.
Further Reading
- Will Marrying Someone With Bad Credit Hurt My Credit Score?
- What’s A Money Coaching Experience Like?
- Sports Hustling As A Way To Make Extra Money
- Are You Type A Or Type B? Take The Personality Quiz!
- Gay Marriage Rights, Financial Benefits, And Tax Penalties
Share Your Thoughts On: Why do you think women have a harder time opening up about finances than men? Why is talking about your finances with someone you care about so taboo? Should couples reveal all their financials before marriage, or should that not matter since the union is “for richer or poorer”? Is not talking about money a cultural or gender phenomenon?
You can learn more about the book here, or buy the book directly from Amazon: Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money with Your Honey
Keigu,
Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money's Mysteries”
I believe that you learn from your parents about how to have a relationship with money. I think it is important to be open with your spouse about your relationship with money, if you have debt, your credit score, etc… I do not think that you should not marry someone you love because of their financial situation, but if they are not willing to change their ways to better their relationship with money I think that might be a deal breaker.
.-= Caroline B.´s last blog ..Aruba Vacation =-.
Hi Manisha thanks for visiting! There may be an argument that men have had even tougher times during this downturn than men, if more men have been considered head of household.
Thanks for the encouragement and idea about writing a book for men. I really do believe society just ignores men when it comes to the pressures placed on us to succeed and provide for the family. I for one would love to have less pressure, but it is what it is.
I may have to ping Adams media for a book proposal!
@Matt
Hmmm, donno where you’re coming from. It’s an honest question regarding why there aren’t more books directed just solely for men given all the pressures we are under to provide.
@Charlie
The one at home DEFINITELY contributes the team. I value a house husband or house wife at at least $60,000-80,000 a year.
@Kathy D
I agree, some kind of healthy friction is important when it comes to money, since finances are combined. Otherwise, resentment will occur if the couple is on different wave lengths.
I have to imagine it’s important to be on the same page before it’s too late, and that there will be signs of destruction before that too late comes.
@Rob Bennett
yeah, talking through money stuff with your significant is really important to reaching goals and being honest about what’s realistic and what’s not. Even if one person isn’t working I think it’s still a good idea to keep communication a top priority. After all, the one at home can still contribute to the “team” in many ways even if he/she isn’t generating a paycheck of their own.
I am single but would love this work for when I meet someone so I know we are on the same page about money before it is to LATE
Both partners really need to know everything the other one is doing financially, if they want to live peacefully.
John DeFlumeri Jr
.-= JOhn DeFlumeri Jr´s last blog ..Podcast* "Cadillac Health Care Plans!" =-.
This looks like it’s geared towards young couples who are seriously talking about marriage. For those of us who have been married for years, we just learned how to communicate about finances the hard way – a running theme for me!
.-= Little House´s last blog ..The Lifestyles of the Rich and Tacky? =-.
Fyi, several great comments stuck in pending mode which can’t be released until tonight bc I’m traveling. One from Manisha herself!
Be back later.
@Financial Samurai Sam – Thanks for reading past the “To All Women” dedication :) It’s an honor to have GET FINANCIALLY NAKED reviewed by you. I LOVE your question about where are the “sexy” books directed at guys. Having worked for over 15 years in the financial services industry, I have met entirely too many hard-working men slaving away at jobs they hated to earn money that their families then spent on stuff that didn’t bring them happiness. Many of these men wanted to leave their jobs – but felt trapped and forced to support a lifestyle they didn’t even enjoy. Worse, they were unable to bring up the discussion with their families because of societal pressure to “man up”. So I see a big opportunity here for a thoughtful book on the same subject directed at men. Goodness knows when it comes to the subject of love & money, we can all use… well… a little luv!
Sam – To answer your question, it’s bc society doesn’t allow men to freely show their emotion without being laughed at.
Also, well done in exposing Matt as a woman, or a very sensitive man! Lol
You gotta be kidding me!
This question has male-chauvinist pig written all over it! No book is worth that.
I abstain.
.-= Matt´s last blog ..Connecting with Favorite Authors through the Internet =-.
Hi Financial Samurai – Thank you for reading past the “to all women” dedication :) & for your very thorough review of GET FINANCIALLY NAKED. As for your excellent query on where are the “sexy” books directed at guys – I think that is SUCH a good question (and a wide open niche, anyone? anyone?…). During my 15 years working in financial services, I saw time and again wonderful men tied to jobs they hated to earn money that their families spent on stuff that really didn’t make any of them happy in the long run. For as passionate as I am about helping women take charge of their financial future, I have to say men need some financial luvin’ too. For any person – man or woman – these are tough times and we all need to be able to speak freely to our mates about the financial pressures we feel. So to whoever might want to write that book for the guys… I’m wishing you a bestseller!
Thrifty Gal – Wow, $1,800 bucks on diapers, and it’s inevitable! Makes me want to go invest in a diaper company! Thnx for the suggestion.
20sMoney – Interesting how you are the one to plan for the future, and your wife is the one thinking about now.
TO ALL – Just wondering to all, there must be tons of women afraid to open up, otherwise why would this book be created?
How come there aren’t any “sexy” books directed at guys sharing their feelings and concerns about the pressures put on to them by society in making money and succeeding? Hmmmmm, don’t women know it’s tough being a guy?
It [the lack of partner communication in regard to personal finance] is a negative trend that needs to be reversed. I remember hearing the story of a woman who had to start from square one after a divorce, simply because she’d always left the finances to her man. That kind of thing shouldn’t fly these days.
.-= Jon´s last blog ..NPD: Chinese Drugstore =-.
I’ll toss my hat in the ring even though I doubt I could get lucky twice in a row :)
Yes, couples need to reveal every single detail of their finances prior to marriage. Anything short of that would amount to deception.
I think women have a hard time talking about finances because it has been ingrained in us that men are the bread winners and therefore should be in control financially. Yes it might be common to see the roles reversed today, but we grew up watching our fathers make the financial decisions. We fear that questioning a man about money might somehow make him feel emasculated. We also try to avoid conflict as much as possible.
On a personal note and since you mentioned the $184k figure Sam, I was at the customer service desk of our local bulk store over the weekend and happened to ask the guy about a promotion they were having. In order to see if it would be economical for me to upgrade my membership, he looked at my expenses for the prior year (which I had not tracked myself!) Apparently I had spent approximately $1800 there mostly on diapers! Better get my kid potty trained quickly!
.-= thriftygal´s last blog ..Resolution Update =-.
I think its definitely imperative to be transparent about finances prior to marriage, not necessarily for the sake of finances, but for the sake of a healthy, open marriage. Marriage results in being a team, and you need to be on the same page to be an effective team.
From my experience, women don’t necessarily have as hard of a time opening up about finances. More, it’s a totally different perspective on finances. For me, I take planning, saving, budgeting much more seriously because I think about our future. My wife tends to think more about the now.
Every couple/marriage is different and will have different issues. The key is open communication, compromise and patience.
.-= 20smoney´s last blog ..Should You Continue Contributing To Your 401(k) Without Company Matching? =-.
I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t in theory favor the idea of speaking openly with his or her spouse about money issues. What doesn’t hit people at first is how revealing sincere money discussions can be.
Say that the woman wants to start a business a few years down the road and so she favors putting a good bit of money aside. But the man likes to go on nice vacations. To the woman, the vacations are a luxury that could be easily cut. To the man, the business idea is vague and perhaps even dreamy. Who knows if she is ever going to actually do it? Who knows if it will pay? Why should they be making sacrifices for it now, before it is even a physical reality? The woman cares about the business in way that the man cannot. He cares about her. But that’s not quite the same thing.
Having sincere money discussions with your spouse will bring frictions to the surface that otherwise could have remained buried for a but longer. I think that’s a good thing. I am a reporter, so I tend to think that the way to deal with differences is to hash them out. But most of us usually play it the other way. Most of us try to avoid friction rather than to embrace it.
The good part of bringing frictions to the surface is that doing so generates some great discussions. It can help you to develop a deeper respect and affection for your spouse. But you of course need to be careful that negative emotions are reined in. Nobody ever entirely understands another person’s hopes for the future or another person’s fears resulting from things that have happened to them in the past.
Rob
.-= Rob Bennett´s last blog ..Podcast #196 — Valuation-Informed Indexing and Buy-and-Hold Are Opposite Strategies =-.