Review and Giveaway: Money Without Matrimony by Sheryl Garrett and Debra Neiman
Giveaway Alert: I have one signed copy to give away to the best comment below!
Money Without Matrimony: The Unmarried Couple’s Guide to Financial Security
It’s rare when a book can be both a good read AND a good reference but Money Without Matrimony manages to do both. It is divided into chapters corresponding to common financial planning topics such as insurance and taxes and is populated throughout with stories of real people (names changed of course) which bring to life the often mundane planning issues.
This book is dedicated to ‘œall unmarried couples who seek financial security and equality’ and that amounts to 5.5 million households or more than 5% of the total U.S. adult population. As most readers of Queercents know, these couples, same or opposite sex, are not protected by the 1140+ federal laws that apply to married couples. I think it’s safe to say that financial planning is more important for unmarried couples than any other demographic. And yet, as the authors point out
Despite the horror stories, few unmarried couples of any age bother with financial planning. In fact, most of us-married or not-rarely get around to formal planning until we’re overwhelmed by a money crisis or left holding an empty bag after a nasty ending to a relationship.
In order to help at least one unmarried couple, I’m giving away a copy of Money Without Matrimony signed by co-author Sheryl Garret. Tell me in a comment why you are not one of those couples that is going to wait until crisis strikes and how you are ready now to get started down this all important path. It’s not all drudgery. The process of discussing your individual and mutual goals, step one, can be a very intimate, trust building exercise.
Authors Sheryl Garrett, CFP ® and Debra Neiman, CFP ®, MBA had a ton of collective experience to draw upon as they developed this guide. Both have serviced unmarried couple clients and contributed to many financial publications. I had an opportunity to interview Sheryl Garrett for a radio show I host on our local community station and I posted a link to the podcast here.
Image credit: moneywithoutmatrimony.com.
Carol: For us, the money talk started within just a few months of dating. I think this has set the tone for how money has been handled in our relationship over the years. When you communicate, you can plan and a plan helps prevent financial trauma and drama!
Our readers should be lining up for a chance to win this book. Very relevant – so thanks for writing about it and offering the giveaway!
This grabbed me out of my RSS feed immediately because it’s so ridiculously timely for me right now. My partner and I are in the process of buying a house together and I am DETERMINED that we are going to take the necessary steps to protect each other financially during this process. And I feel like a complete commitment-phobic turd for wanting to have conversations about the “What ifs” of financial planning. What if we break up? What if I lose my job? What if someone dies? These are crucial but unpleasant conversations.
I was thinking the other day, I do not have any good gay role models for this and I have no idea where to start asking questions. I can’t wait to check out this guide.
It’s especially important for my partner and I do good financial planning. We have two children together and she is a Stay-at-Home mom while I work for the government meaning I don’t have domestic partner benefits. We try to stay on top of everything but sometimes I wonder what may be falling through the cracks.
Wow, talk about serendipity, thanks for telling us about this guide!
My partner and I are first-time homebuyers in the process of purchasing a home here in Houston. Who knew buying a house wasn’t as easy as it looks on HGTV?! Home-buying TV shows used to fill our DVR, but now that we know how much they gloss over the financial aspects, it has fallen from our good graces. That lack of information seems criminal now that I think about it…
So far we’ve been blessed with an amazing realtor and awesome properties, but the most stress stems from our mortgage.
After five years together we still don’t have joint checking, let alone contingency plans in case of emergencies, to say nothing of 30year mortgage! Getting approval from the mortgage company has felt like a minefield of potential pitfalls. While my philosophy during this process has been a mask of calm over (probably too much) hope and anxiety, my partner has thousands of questions I don’t have answers to. We don’t have a gold mine of information like this to consult, role model or otherwise. Our marathon conversations about money are full of uncertainty about what laws protect us and what options we have for letting our money mingle at long last.
I’m beginning to realize these are decisions we should have made long before buying a house, hopefully this guide will point out those options available to us. It also sounds like a great resource to pass on to some of our younger gay friends who are just starting the co-habitation adventure.
Thanks again for offering a perfect solution to our money (non-? un-? mis-?)management and keep the great posts coming.
I really would love to read this book……
Great comments everyone. You’ve made choosing very tough. I’ll probably put a few names in a hat and make my wife do it! 😉
And the winner is…Amy! Hers was the name drawn from the hat and the signed copy of Money Without Matrimony is on the way to her now. Thank you all for your comments. I encourage you to find a copy of this book and read it for the sake of your relationship’s financial well being.