Kimberly Palmer: Fighting over money? Ways to seek common ground with your partner

abcnews.go.com:

Money can create stress within a relationship, but talking through expectations and money beliefs can help couples get on the same page

Figuring out how to manage money together might be an important part of a happy relationship, but it’s a skill that doesn’t always come naturally.

“When there’s conflict or discord, it’s usually not about the money itself, but related to the meaning each person is attaching to money. There’s always something deeper,” says Cohen Taylor, a licensed family and marriage therapist and behavioral wealth specialist at the registered investment advisory Wealth Enhancement Group.

Getting on the same page as your partner when it comes to finances usually requires a lot of communication and sometimes a little compromise. In some cases, it might include realizing your perception of your partner’s spending habits isn’t entirely accurate.

Here are tips from financial experts on how to see money as an issue to bond over rather than a source of tension.

EXPECT AND PREPARE FOR CONFLICT

Before getting serious with your partner, ask them how they learned about finances as a child, Taylor suggests. “We all have these childhood experiences or flashpoints in our lives that create these core beliefs related to money,” she says. If you were told to always save for a rainy day, for example, you might be deeply uncomfortable spending money unless there’s an emergency.

Taylor adds that because we are often attracted to people with money personalities opposite our own, it’s important to understand those differences.

Expecting conflict and preparing to navigate it together can be healthy, says Laura J. LaTourette, certified financial planner and founder of the Family Wealth Management Group. “If you just lean into