What Happens When Couples Talk About Money?

Good things!

You enter a relationship with your own shit; part of the joy and the terror of that pact is unpacking your shit, putting it on a table and seeing how it stacks up with your partner’s. Everyone loves to talk about money and also yell about it, but when you’re in a relationship, half the quiet arguments that blow up into week-long fights are usually about money.

I’m fascinated by these dialogues — I could listen to people talk about money and their weird baggage surrounding it all day — but thankfully, this web series from CNBC is doing some of the heavy lifting for me.

Here is “Love Bank,” a web series that puts real couples together in a room, asks them questions about money, all for the chance to win $10,000. For each pair’s matching answer, they get $1. The couple that has the most money in their “love bank” — get it, do you get it, it’s cute, right? — wins the $10,000.

Does this sound like it might be a disaster? Sure. For some couples who aren’t honest and open about their shit and who maybe don’t spend that much time talking about money at home, it would be. But, most of the people featured on the show seem to have a healthy relationship with money and each other. Even when their answers aren’t the same, there’s no fighting! Maybe because it’s on camera or maybe they’ve all learned how to handle disputes with the grace and ease that befits adults. It’s nice to watch!

Also, there’s a familiar face in the third episode. Hello, Ester!

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