Amy-Jo-Lauber-150x150Editor’s Note: My dear friend, Amy Jo Lauber, CFP, author of Life Inspired Financially Empowered, is holding a weekend retreat for couples! Of the big three reasons couples fight, sex, money and family, I have to say money was the usual suspect in our house. A retreat like the one Amy Jo has planned would have saved my husband and me a lot of tension and strife! Here is a reprint of an article written by Amy Jo describing the highlights of the retreat and why couples will benefit for the good of your bank account and your relationship!

~***~

It is booked! The “Couple’s Retreat for Financial Harmony” that I’m cheekily calling HARMONEY!

Since most couples argue (or at least disagree) about some aspects of their finances at least some of the time, I feel offering this retreat is a way of helping them stay married (if indeed they’d like to). Being a good steward of your resources is one way of showing love for your spouse.

Financial decisions and actions are reflections of our innermost values and priorities, so they tend to pull our triggers in ways we may not always understand. Once triggered, it’s difficult to listen to our spouse and step into a place of rational, wise decision making because we go into tantrum mode.

This is not healthy if you desire a long-term marriage and will only make you grumble at the “for richer or for poorer” vow you took. And what money-struggleabout “for worse?!” Who marries “for worse?!”

So, let’s make it “for better” and we’ll work on the “for richer” part, too.

This retreat is designed to be a sacred time and place for you and your beloved to:

  • Discover each other’s values, goals, fears and priorities
  • Foster a sense of understanding for each another
  • Learn how you complement each other financially
  • Increase your communication skills
  • Learn how to tackle your finances as a team
  • Create and commit to mutual goals & courses of action

Salsa SarahSarah Haykel (“Salsa Sarah”) will start us off Friday evening with a bit of fun, then Saturday I’ll help you discover what’s truly important to you – individually and as a couple – and how money can be your servant (and not the other way around).

Then Dr. Elvira Aletta of Explore What’s Next will give you the tools you need to communicate your needs and priorities to each other so that you can like each other and feel that you truly have each other’s back.

The retreat runs from Friday October 24th 6:30pm through Saturday October 25thth 4pm at the gorgeous Beaver Hollow Conference Center 1083 Pit Road, Java Center, NY 14082 (note this is a non-smoking facility).

$525 per couple: All meals and guest rooms included!
Make checks payable to Lauber Financial Planning, 3976 Seneca Street, West Seneca, NY 14224