Family finance needs to be inclusive – allowing one person to exclusively manage money affairs may end very badly

Letting one person handle money affairs in a household is a recipe for trouble – and the price could be very high if things go wrong. Here’s how to avoid it.

Letting one person handle all money matters is the single biggest mistake couples can make.

Leave the investment to me darling! It’s still a refrain in household finances and letting one person handle all money matters is the single biggest mistake a couple can make, says author Jacqui Clarke.

As an adviser to some of Australia’s wealthiest families, Clarke knows a thing or two about how individuals can lose when it comes to family fortunes. In today’s episode of The Money Puzzle podcast she spells out the life lessons everyone needs to know.

Clarke, the author of Stop Worrying About Money, says she can’t believe the number of people she comes across who still do not know even the basics of their own family finances.

Jacqui Clarke, author of Stop Worrying About Money.

She points out a number of simple steps anyone can take to ensure they can at least defend themselves should their be a dispute over inheritance or a divorce looming.As a non-executive director at the Millner-family linked BKI Investments, Clarke gets to see investment issues up close while also running her Maxima Private group. She offers a unique view on financial advice issues facing every Australian, from novice investors to rich list members.

Who is the guest?

Jacqui Clarke of Maxima Private

Why her?

She has built a reputation advising some of Australia’s richest families

What are the topics this time?

1. How to manage household wealth in everyone’s interest

2. The attractions of pooling money for couples

3. Building your own ‘village’ of wealth consultants

4. Making sense of ‘buy’ recommendations from stockbrokers

Question of the week

Regular reader Paul asks: “I am a newbie when it comes to interpreting the financial sheets provided by my broker and have been slowly educating myself on the various intricacies.

What confuses me is when nearly all of the rows suggest that a share is good value (eg: sales, cash flow, book value, ROE, net profit %, etc). But then one row would counteract this promising information. One specific example is a well-known ASX listed medical stock I have. It has negative net gearing figures since 2017. What have I missed here? I thought it was a great company?”