In May 2010 the UK established our first coalition government since 1945.  As you probably know the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrat’s decided to form this government.  I remember at the time being quite surprised with this ‘unlikely marriage’

The reason for my mild shock was that whilst our main political parties have similar opinions on many issues (when compared to many other democratic countries) there is also a number of areas where they fundamentally disagree.

It’s also important to remember a coalition isn’t always the only option when no particular party gains overall control.  New elections can be held (like for instance in Greece in 2012) or a minority government can be formed.

However during the post election discussions both ‘Dave and Nick’ decided that they would get together to form the coalition government in part to provide stability and leadership to the country.

Whilst I’m sure we could all wax lyrical about the implications of this political change…what particularly interested me was how the relationship between two parties (and two leaders) with diametrically opposed opinions on a number of issues can work together?  What attributes between both the leaders and parties need to make sure the relationship is as effective and harmonious as possible?  and what can we learn from this to help us manage our money more effectively?

It’s important to point out that I’m not using the coalition as an ‘ideal’ model.  In fact that’s why it’s worth considering trying to learn from!  I wouldn’t consider my relationship with Cassie to be ‘ideal’ (whatever that means) and if you’re totally honest I’m sure you’re relationship is pretty similar.  Like the coalition we agree on many things, but disagree on quite a lot too….and this especially applies to how we spend, save and manage our money.

However we try as hard as we can to work through it and I’ve come to the conclusion that to make any relationship (be it political or personal) work you need three things and whilst I intend to talk about the other two in later Blog entries let’s cover off one today….

1) A Shared Vision

Whilst the conservatives and the Liberal Democrats disagree on many things….they also have areas of common ground.  Any partnership is similar and without a doubt applies to my family relationship.

So, instead of initially focusing on the ‘differences’….surely a better initial approach is to focus on what makes two parties agree.  What ideals do you agree on?  What’s important to both of you?  What do you want to collectively achieve as a couple and a family?

For example, As you grow old together what kind of life do you want?  How do you need to plan financially in order to make this a reality?

I also believe that if you’re just starting out in your relationship, or five, twenty or thirty years in it’s important to do this.  After all the ‘foundations’ of any partnership, marriage or financial plan need to be based around your shared beliefs, your shared passions….or (in other words) your shared vision.

That doesn’t mean you should ignore the differences in opinion…..but we’ll talk about that in a later blog.