A New Way to Start the Money Conversation with Judith Stern Peck

Divorce Dialogues

How do you talk to your partner about money? How about your kids? Many of us are afraid to discuss our finances, so we avoid the subject altogether. But what if you had a new way to initiate the money conversation with your family? Judith Stern Peck is the Director of the Money and Family Life Project at the Ackerman Institute for the Family, where she serves as Senior Faculty. She has 40 years of experience as a family therapist and family business consultant, helping people break through the barriers of talking about money. Judith is also the author of Money and Meaning: New Ways to Have Conversations About Money with Your Clients—A Guide for Therapists, Coaches and Other Professionals. On this episode of Divorce Dialogues, Judith joins Katherine to explain why money is still such a taboo subject for most people and describe why it’s challenging for many divorcing couples to have explicit discussions about their finances. She introduces us to her framework for talking about money, walking us through an exercise for recognizing when your spending contradicts your values. Listen in for Judith’s insight on getting educated around your household finances and learn a new approach to communicating with your family about money. Topics Covered How money carries many different subconscious meanings for people How to communicate money decisions to your children Why money is still such a taboo subject for most people The challenge of talking about money when a couple has established the provider-distributor dynamic Why the shift from an implicit contract to explicit discussions about money feels uncomfortable for divorcing couples What people can do to start having better conversations around money Judith’s exercise for aligning your financial decisions with your values Recognizing when your spending contradicts your values and having a conversation about it Judith’s advice for people in families where money is used to control or manipulate behavior Why getting educated about the use of money in your family is the first step toward spending with intention and taking ownership of financial decisions Connect with Judith Stern Peck Judith at Ackerman Institute for the Family: https://www.ackerman.org/faculty/judith-stern-peck-lcsw/ Connect with Katherine Miller The Center for Understanding Conflict: http://understandinginconflict.org/ Miller Law Group: https://westchesterfamilylaw.com/ Katherine on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kemiller1 The New Yorker’s Guide to Collaborative Divorce by Katherine Miller: https://www.amazon.com/New-Yorkers-Guide-Collaborative-Divorce/dp/0692496246 Email: [e-mail] Call [phone] Resources Judith’s Money and Family Life Research: https://www.ackerman.org/faculty/judith-stern-peck-lcsw/ Money and Meaning: New Ways to Have Conversations About Money with Your Clients—A Guide for Therapists, Coaches and Other Professionals by Judith Stern Peck: https://www.amazon.com/Money-Meaning-Conversations-Clients-Professionals/dp/0470083425