Later on, money should also become just one of many means by which you will take care of yourself and the lifetime partner you choose. A marriage without money is very difficult, but money, or the lack of it, should never be the sole reason behind the success or failure of a relationship. (This kind of reasoning belongs more to businesses for profit.)
Ask yourself in all honesty how your financial situation is today. Are you one of those consumed with money (or with worries over money)? Even if it shouldn’t be, money or the lack of it can become a source of problems for most people. Their lives are consumed by thoughts of money, and these thoughts have taken complete control over them. You could be one of these people!
You need to be comfortable with your financial situation, before tackling the dating scene. Money causes endless problems in most relationships, so you need to have your personal finances all figured out—and you must also be content with your current financial position—before you even step out for a date! You want to bring yourself to the table, free and ready to contribute to a good relationship in every way. The last thing you need is money trouble.
Money as Preparation
So, how much money or wealth should you have?
If you’re hoping not only to retire peacefully in old age, but get married and have children, ideally you should be making—or own—enough wealth to:
• Take good care of yourself today, without having to accumulate debt in the process
• Start a growing fund or savings for further plans (e.g. marriage, own business or non-profit organization, added education, or retirement)
These are the two main viewpoints by which you should view and assess your current financial state. From there, you can determine what areas need improvement—and an overall plan of how you can fit your needs and goals in life within your limited time and flow of money.
Financial Planning
Now, there are plenty of personal finance books and gurus out there for you to take advice from. No doubt some of them make sense. But a lot more are just out to sell books or financial planning services—or worse, they’re out to sell you certain stocks or investment vehicles that they’ve secretly got a stake in.
Since this is a book about dating, and not personal finance, I shall only give you a general summary of how your personal financial plan should be broken down into. It is up to you to discern whose financial advice you should listen to; all I can say is you should be very, very careful, and do your research carefully for every amount of money you earn, invest or spend. (In business, being careful this way is called “due diligence”. Look it up and you’ll get what I mean about being careful with your personal finances.)