The Family CFO sets out to help couples learn to talk about and handle their money with the same skills a business would use so that they can stop worrying about money and start working on their goals and dreams.

When couples can start to view their finances as a family business, they can begin to apply the same tools that businesses use every day. The book begins with outlining the basics of this family business:

• Defining Your Vision
• Assigning Jobs and Organizing the Office
• Learning to Go with the (Cash) Flow
• Knowing Your (Net) Worth
• The Family CFO Five-Step Forecast

There are also discussions about "The Romance in Finance" and "Ending Fights Through the Family CFO Process". This is all in Part I and gives couples the basics for what it means to treat one's personal finances like a family business.

Part II delves into seven key topics for most, if not all, couples:

• Debt
• Buying a home
• Changing jobs
• Having children
• Retirement
• Savings and insurance
• Job loss and other financial emergencies

The authors go into good detail for each topic they address in the book, with charts, formulas and examples throughout to help get their message across. They include exercises and questions for partners to ask themselves. There is a four-page glossary of terms for those new to the world of financial planning. Some of the charts and exercises may seem daunting to those who have never given much thought to gaining the upper hand on their financial situation, but spending the time to learn the in's and out's of money management can be a gift for any relationship.

The parting words sum up the ideas of the book nicely: Define your priorities; treat your family like a business; simplify; and, do your own best practices survey. Money need not be a stressor in a relationship, and The Family CFO is an excellent resource for couples wishing to gain control of their finances and release the grip their money has over them.

After all -

"It's our great hope that after reading this book, you and your partner will find that money can bring you closer together. We hope that whenever one of you says, "Let's talk about money," the other one hears, "Let's talk about our dreams." Because those dreams are what brought you together in the first place - and running your money like a business can help you build the life you've imagined. What could be more romantic than that?"

Copyright 2004
This review is available for reprint.