It can be tough to involve a spouse in the family portfolio. In many households there’s a natural division of labour; and if one person always looks after the finances, there’s little motivation for the other spouse to get involved.

That’s often a mistake, though, because a portfolio is very different from other shared tasks. For one thing, the stakes are much higher: the outcome of investment strategies affects everybody’s life. Consider the worst-case scenario: what if the person who manages the portfolio dies suddenly? The surviving spouse may have little experience at making important investment decisions, yet will have to do so almost immediately.

So it always makes sense for both spouses to be involved, but that’s not always easy. I’ve personally witnessed a few failed efforts. There was the case of Bill and Mary, for instance. Mary, the spouse who manages the portfolio, drags Bill, who prefers to stay out of investment talk, to a portfolio review. He’s disgruntled at being there, and the conversation is mostly between Mary and the advisor (me).

We talk about what stocks are up, which are down, and what might happen over the coming year to interest rates, oil and exports. Meanwhile, Bill is fighting back yawns at the boredom of it all. On the way home, he tells Mary he’d rather chew tinfoil than sit through another review. Mary is annoyed because a) it feels as though her hard work on behalf of the family is unappreciated, and b) she can’t understand why Bill refuses to take an interest in something so important to both of them.

My opinion is that Bill isn’t really uninterested in financial matters—he just isn’t interested in this particular aspect. When you think about it, conversations about the details of asset price movements and market forecasts are secondary to larger issues such as goals, risk tolerance and family priorities.

So here’s a different approach to spousal participation: move the conversation away from the nitty-gritty of market performance. Leave your financial advisor out of it for the time being, and just ask your spouse these general questions:

• What are you worried about when it comes to money?

• What are the best opportunities we have right now?

• What advantages do we have as a couple in dealing with money?

• What do we want to do for family members such as kids, parents or relatives?

• Where would we like to be in ten years? Twenty years?

• Where do you want to live in ten years?

• What kind of work will we be doing in ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years?

• What do we want to do for the world at large?

• How much will we need to finance all those aims?

• How should we go about getting there?

Once you’ve had that conversation, it’s not hard to create an investment policy. Short-term objectives require risk-free investments; long-term objectives can handle riskier assets. You might also get a clearer idea about each other’s retirement plans. More to the point, your spouse can finally see the utility of the family portfolio: in his/her mind, it’s now linked to personal objectives. Now you’re ready to talk about how those market blips and tips will serve your family goals.

Alan MacDonald is an investment advisor with Richardson GMP Limited. Alan helps investors with over $500,000 of assets make smart decisions about money. For more information please visit www.alanmacdonald.ca or email Alan at Alan.Macdonald@RichardsonGMP.com.

Richardson is a trade-mark of James Richardson & Sons, Limited. GMP is a registered trade-mark of GMP Securities L.P. Both used under license by Richardson GMP Limited.