Traci and I have been married for almost 25 years and we have five children. One is in college and we homeschool the other four. We have a mortgage, a car payment, and regular bills to pay. I teach at a local University and Traci is the primary caregiver and educator for our children.
In all our years of marriage, we have never fought about money. Have we had disagreements? Of course. Have things been tight? You bet. But we worked together and learned to talk about money.
I have been in the personal finance industry for almost all the years we have been married. After that Sunday School class I took a semester-long course about family finances, and before the semester ended I had changed my major to Family Finances. I went on to get more education in personal finance and I now teach financial planning and run a student money management center. I am a Certified Financial Planner, an Accredited Financial Counselor, and a Behavioral Financial Advisor.
My studies focus on the psychology of money – including money beliefs, communication skills, couples and finance, money addictions, and basic money management skills like budgeting, improving credit, and getting out of debt.