Having the talk
Posted on November 2nd, 2007 – 4:17 PMBy Kara McGuire
I’m sent a gazillion pitches a week about a financial services company launching a campaign to get people to think about retirement or estate planning or what have you.
But this pitch from the insurance company Nationwide announcing the launch of their Have the Talk web site is pretty good. The site urges people to talk about financial matters, no matter how painful.
There are so many tools on that site– from a quiz that helps pinpoint your money talk style and provides individualized advice to silly skits performed by comedian Frank Caliendo (you might have seen him in spots during the baseball playoffs)–that I can’t begin to check them all out for all of you.
Talking to family members about money is a big issue for many of us. Even my family. The only way I found out that my parents haven’t updated their will since my sister and I were kids was when I mentioned my recent column on estate planning while gabbing with them on the phone.
Local money and kids entrepreneur Nathan Dungan just piloted a money show Money N’ Sanity. It runs for the final time at 8pm Saturday on TPT.
The show is sponsored by Ameriprise, which recently came out with a study that found baby boomers are likely to talk with their parents about aging issues that are staring them in the face more than other issues. Respondents also said that we may be gradually opening up more about money from generation to generation.
Are you seeing that in your family? Are you more willing to address money issues with your family members than they are with you? Is the way you talk about money with your partner different than what you saw from your elders growing up?
One response to "Having the talk"
Question 2: Yes, I find that I am more willing to talk than my parents…but I see this as generational rather than personal. They don’t talk personal finance among their peers/friends so it doesn’t surprise me that they don’t talk about it with their kids.
I would add that even if you don’t want to talk with others in your family, you can at least organize things so there would not be as a large of a mess if something were to happen to you. A summary of all accounts, (including account #’s), insurance policies, etc. should be stored with your will and/or mailed to a trusted friend/relative and updated annually.
