Sometimes you meet someone in life and they tick all of your boxes except one; financial compatibility.
If you are someone who is currently dating or even married, then financial compatibility is a term you must probably have encountered.
When faced with the choice to marry someone poorer or someone richer, most people would obviously go for someone richer. Sometimes though, you can love someone so much or think that they are your perfect fit so bad that you would consider being with them regardless of their financial status. you must have considered this.
For some others, marrying someone poorer than them is not a situation they ever want to find themselves in especially for most females.
It’s one thing to date a person who is not in the same financial status as you are but marrying someone who is acutely below your standard is a different ball game entirely.
Financial compatibility should never be slighted because it can impact a relationship positively or negatively.
Financial compatibility is about thinking long-term. Beyond all the love and attraction, is this someone I can build my dream financial future with?
You also have to think about how far behind they are in their finances compared to yours and if it is something you’re willing to accommodate and compromise on.
Compatibility is more about financial values than cash at hand. People can lose their sources of income and people can earn more with time so while ‘how much do they have’ is important, there are other equally, if not more, important factors to consider. That is how to determine financial compatibility.
A relationship where there is an income inequality is one that will create a power imbalance and also breed disrespect. This is especially true if it is the female who makes more money. The society that we live in has already created a stereotype of males being the sole providers and females being the supporters, so, when that dynamics change it is somewhat unusual. This will breed some resentment and insecurity issues from both parties involved.
The people who earn lower in a marriage or relationship often feel slighted and they will manifest this through constant arguments and the person who is the major provider and asking more money might feel easily irritable and demand more respect.
The relationship or marriage will rarely survive this dynamics and if it does it will be tested severely.
If you really want to make a decision concerning marrying a person much poorer than you, then these are 2 questions you should ask yourself first;
1. Will the situation make you resentful in the future?
2. Will the lack of finances cause hardship and suffering for you and your family in the future?
If the answers are “no”, then it would seem to be fine.
If your answers are yes then you should not think of getting involved with the person who is poorer than you. You will only end up keeping score or holding it against them which will negatively affect your relationship.
If marrying a person that is poorer than you will only open you up to deep poverty and struggles then it will be very unwise to still continue with it. Money isn’t everything but it does make up for a lot.
