He doesn’t save enough money...

I am a 27-year-old woman and have been in a relationship with a guy who doesn’t have any idea about personal finance or why it matters. He is always uninterested when I bring up the topic and says I need to be more focused on the present than the future. He spends money liberally without thinking about what may happen. He spends a lot on me too, which is nice, but also worrying because I know what his salary is. He and I have been talking about getting engaged and the only thing that stops me from taking any concrete steps towards this is his attitude towards saving. If I can’t trust him to take care of our financial needs, what will happen to this relationship the minute one of us loses our jobs? I don’t know if I am prioritising the right thing because I love him very much, which is why I am confused. What should I do or tell him?
As a woman, the single biggest thing you should focus on is financial independence, because it frees you to make decisions that will be in your interest. Love is obviously a critical component for any relationship to work, but your future as a couple brings other factors into consideration that shouldn’t be ignored despite your feelings for the other person. Your partner may have different priorities, which is okay because he is entitled to have a mind of his own, but there has to be some compromise when there are two lives on the line. He can choose to spend his money any way he likes because it belongs to him, but he also needs to acknowledge that the approach fails when someone else’s financial well-being is at risk. Tell him why there has to be a change and talk about a solution that works for you both. Consider speaking to a finance professional too, because that may allow you both to find a path to budgeting that is sensible as well as tolerable.

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