Real Answers for Life’s Money Challenges
Im having trouble convincing my husband that we should start making investments.
It was a struggle to even convince him to move from a traditional savings account to a high-yielding one.
I would never bet with money we could not afford.
How do I convince my husband that building wealth is a risk but a worthy one?
-K.
Dear K.,
Some people dont invest because they truly are risk-averse.
Sometimes its sheer laziness.
That possibility crossed my mind for your husband.
Investing takes a lot of discipline.
Which do you think best describes your husband?
If its the first scenario, he needs to understand that the bigger risk is not investing.
Suppose your goal is to retire with $500,000.
You could save $1,000 a month for 40 years straight and still not get there.
Your money would also be worth way less than $500,000 by that point due to inflation.
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If laziness is the issue, thats easy.
Pretty much any major brokerage offers robo-investing.
You dont need to actively manage a portfolio.
If your husband is the pop in who wants to spend every cent today, thats a bigger challenge.
At the very least, does he acknowledge that he wants to retire someday?
If so, does he have any ideas about how he plans to get there without investing?
You could suggest starting small with $50 or $100 a month.
Yet on some level, I get your husbands skepticism.
Im not going to tell you that the financial system is perfect.
Of course, there will always be scams.
Avoiding dirt-cheap penny stocks will also help you avoid being scammed.
Consistently putting money into anS&P 500 index fundis the most proven way to build wealth over time.
Im hoping that your husbands resistance stems from the fact that hes unfamiliar with investing.
Maybe hell come around once he sees your money isnt vanishing into a slot machine each month.
At a minimum, the two of you should sit down to review your finances once a month.
you might go over your spending and talk about your bigger goals.
Dont let him off the hook here.
He doesnt get to put your future at risk over his hard-headed beliefs.
Robin Hartill is a certified financial planner and a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
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