Couples argue more about money than anything else. The issues involving money are draining in themselves, and financial issues are often at the heart of a divorce—especially a high-net-worth divorce.
Here are eight of the top money-related reasons for the dissolution of marriage among wealthy couples.
1. Skewed financial priorities
Many couples do not discuss financial goals before marriage and therefore do not approach planning and saving as a team. For example, while one may want to focus on saving for retirement, the other may want to spend more on vacations and travel.
2. Credit card debt
Often, the more wealth there is, the more credit card spending there will be. When the bills begin to mushroom, the financial trouble begins.
3. Combined bank accounts
Newly married couples often open joint checking accounts. However, they may fail to establish spending rules for the combined funds.
4. Budget problems
When there are two incomes instead of one, a feeling of financial power sometimes develops whereby ill-advised spending results in debt.
5. Inability to compromise
One spouse might be a spendthrift and the other a penny-pincher. The inability to compromise in terms of financial goals can cause unhappiness that only deepens over time.
6. Financial infidelity
Financial infidelity, such as keeping a secret bank account, failing to disclose mounting debt or hiding a gambling addiction will erode trust and eventually taint the marriage.
7. Impulse buying
This is often a problem with wealthy couples. One spouse may have been able to afford a Lamborghini, but the other feels less than pleased when it suddenly appeared in the driveway without any discussion.
8. Mine versus ours
One spouse may spend the marriage climbing the ladder of success while the other concentrates on raising the family, until eventually, he or she appears not to have contributed a fair share to the marital wealth.
