Mel Browne

Like it's

When you're making that tangible change, often that's enough to pull the partner in to go, huh, I want to know what this is about.

I thought it was going to be fluffy and it's anything but that.

But also sometimes even early on because if what we know from late relationships, Australia, money is the number one thing couples fight about.

We fight about it twice a month.

So even just being able to have someone come and want to have a genuine curious conversation about money can sometimes be enough to stop that heat.

But I think it's also important, like we're talking about having those conversations, it's important to acknowledge that there are

Either in a relationship it can become problematic.

You know, there's awful stats that where a woman's earning goes past her partner's and if that partner is a male, her risk of domestic violence goes up by 30%.

So there are instances where women can feel really reluctant to engage financially.

And if you want to stay in that relationship, then often it is going and finding your own financial independence as well as speaking to a therapist.

So I've worked a lot with women who are building their own wealth regardless of what you're doing as a couple because I'm not going to press pause just because you won't talk about it with me or just because you feel threatened by what I earn.

But the other thing is I think there are some people that it's not appropriate to talk about this with.

So, for example, I wouldn't talk about it with my mother.

It's not that I don't love her.

It's that she's grown up, to be honest, looking back with a bit of financial control there.

If I was to share stuff with her, she would be frightened.

She would be scared.

She could try to talk me out of it.

With business, she would go, oh, are you sure you want to do that?