Megan Ford, a financial therapist and clinic director in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, recently spoke with The Wall Street Journal about the benefits of managing family finances like a business.
Couples are taking a page out of the corporate playbook to better manage their finances and daily operations. To split household duties, partners are adopting the roles of chief financial officer and chief operating officer.
The CFO takes on the job of budgeting, balancing accounts and managing investments. The COO will book appointments, organize the calendar and make sure everything runs on time. Like in a Fortune 500 company, the two roles work together as a well-oiled leadership team.
“At the core, there does need to be this established level of agreement between couples about ‘How are we going to get through daily life and accomplish all the tasks it takes to get to the finish line successfully every day?’” said Ford.
Expressing gratitude for the work each partner takes on is crucial for the CFO-COO model to work in a marriage.
“If you are in a COO role, don’t forget to acknowledge and express appreciation to your partner for what they are managing. And if your nose is in the spreadsheet all the time, you can be confronted with some stressful events, and that can lead to you feeling isolated,” said Ford.
