He Says, She Says
If your spouse is a risk-taker and you are not (or vice versa), it's sometimes difficult for you to understand each other. The words just don't mean what they would mean if you were saying them.
With that in mind (and of course a firm desire to improve communication between the sexes), we offer you this handy translation guide to common phrases uttered by Homo Financialus, both male and female. If your spouse is a risk-taker and you are a risk-avoider, or the other way around, you know exactly what we are talking about.
| Risk-Taker Says | She/He Means | |
| I guess it's time for us to refinance the house, honey. | Our neighbor is never going to brag about his 5% rate in front of me again. | |
| Let's sell our existing stocks and invest in something with more profit potential. | I'm bored and I'm looking for something to do on the computer this weekend. | |
| I can handle it myself. | I would never ask for directions, even if I were so lost I was on the wrong continent. | |
| Let's take out a home equity loan and buy investment property. | I don't know anything about real estate, but if they'll loan me $100,000, I'll figure something out. | |
| Risk-Avoider Says | She/He Means | |
| I don't think we can afford that right now. | If I let you spend all of my security money, I'll wind up a bag lady on a street corner, living in a box and begging for bread. | |
| Let's do some research before we invest. | I want to analyze every piece of data ever published on that company, and get a guarantee from the CFO that it will do well before I buy it. | |
| Let's wait to do that until we get married. | I'm putting my financial life on hold until I'm sure that our relationship is going to work out | |
| Let's take out a home equity loan and buy investment property. | Let's borrow exactly enough for the down payment and make sure that we have consistent positive cash flow for the next 10 years before we invest a penny. | |
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It requires as much caution to tell the truth as to conceal it. — Baltasar Gracian, author
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