David Marchese

But when did the switch happen where you decided to talk specifically to couples about

I was wondering, you know, it's like there's only so many ways that you can say, you know, pay off your debt, you know, spend on the things that matter, buy low-cost index funds, do the employer 401k match.

Did you think, oh, I need to find another lane for the material?

Yeah.

So when you speak to couples about their money problems and they're talking about specific ones, what are the most common problems that you come across

where like actually the problem is not the money, it's what the money represents between the couple.

But I'm also interested in what's underneath the you spent too much money at Target conversation.

Oh, yeah.

Classic.

Right?

Which could be, you know, maybe the person who's being critical, maybe they are actually controlling and they want to be, they want to oversee all the spending.

Maybe the person who's doing the spending for

It feels like spending is a way of sort of exercising power in their own way.

So what are those sorts of dynamics that you see recurring in the couples that you talk to?

You know, I have to say that sometimes when I've been thinking in a broader way about your work, particularly your work with couples, and I see these couples come on and to all outward appearances, they look like they should be doing well.

And they're having, they're really struggling.

Like people talking about maybe losing their house or sort of the specter of divorce can come up because of tensions around money or people really anxious about not being able to

provide the same life for their kids that they were able to have.

And that's sort of on one side of it.

And then on the other side, you have people who have a lot of money, but they seem completely, like, coiled and unable to enjoy it.