Money and Love: An Intelligent Road Map for Life’s Biggest Decisions

Strober, a retired Stanford Graduate School of Education professor, and her former student Davisson present a no-fuss framework for considering the “fraught decisions around money and love.” The authors write that personal relationships and careers need not be in opposition, and suggest instead that the two are “intimately” linked. Their plan for decision-making consists of “5Cs”: clarify; communicate; consider a range of choices; check in with friends, family, and other resources; and explore likely consequences. This process, the authors write, can help readers find a partner (“Try to anticipate the consequences of your relationship decision by pressure-testing it”), decide whether or not to have children (“Why do you want a child? Why don’t you?”), divide household chores (“Checking in with friends and colleagues about housework and family responsibilities is useful. How do they make decisions about who does which tasks?”), and reenter the workforce after having a child (“Whom can you contact about your desire to return to work?”). The authors’ emphasis on planning ahead and their helpful exercises go a long way toward highlighting their simple but powerful point that love and one’s finances are interdependent, and key life conversations should account for both. Readers struggling with big decisions will find this a handy resource. (Jan.)