Not Oprah’s Book Club: Get Financially Naked

Did you know that 80% of men die married while 80% of women die single?

This isn’t to depress anyone, and no, I’m not going to follow this up with some bogus stat about how it’s harder for a woman in New York City to find a partner than it is to find a unicorn on the Great Lawn. The fear mongers have been there, done that. What I am going to tell you is that it’s critical that you understand your finances and start making informed choices about them. Not because you’ll potentially be alone, sadsadsniffsniff, but because you’ll potentially be alone, and think of all the incredible adventures you could have!
That’s where this new book, by Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar, comes in. It’s called Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money with your Honey. While the cover and some of the language inside is regrettably hetero, it really can apply to any kind of relationship.
Thakor and Kedar take you through some new agey visualization and some nitty gritty education to help you get to “financial strength,” as they put it. They emphasize that partners so often talk about shared values in almost all ways, except for where it comes up with money, and that’s the unspoken conversation that ends up biting them in the ass later. They argue: “The bottom line is that financial compatibility is as important as emotional and physical compatibility when it comes to the success of a serious, committed relationship.” (They even have a financial compatibility quiz. Fun times.)
So get naked, people. As if you needed another good reason.