MONEY COMMENT
A Foolish Confession

By Cliff D'Arcy
December 17, 2003

I'll start by misquoting Malvolio, a character in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night:

"...be not afraid of Foolishness: some are born Foolish, some achieve Foolishness, and some have Foolishness thrust upon them."

My wife has forced me into this confession, with threats that she would reveal my shocking secret to the world. Okay, gloves off, here's the awful truth: there's a gifted Fool in my house – and it's certainly not me! In fact, it's my delightful spouse, who has to be one of the most financially shrewd people I've ever known.

Okay, so I studied maths, statistics and computer science at University and, to date, I've endured a sixteen-year career – sixteen years, ouch! – in financial services. It's true that I've designed profitable financial products, marketing campaigns and sales processes. And I write about money matters for a meagre (take note, Mr Editor!) living. Nevertheless, the truth is that someone always does it better and, for me, that someone is Mrs D.

You see, I'm far from being one of life's biological Fools. In fact, I've made a few too many financial blunders in my life, such as:

• spending more than I earn for long periods (I needed the Fool's Living Below Your Means discussion board)
• building not one, but two mountains of credit-card debt (Get Out of Debt centre)
• not investing enough in my future (especially my pension)
• taking too much risk with shares (Learn to Invest guide)
• keeping chaotic, messy financial records.

On the other hand, my lady wife has always:

• lived below her means and spent modestly
• worked hard at her career, earning an attractive income
• paid off her credit cards in full, only once borrowing money to buy a car (and finding a cheap loan, naturally)
• saved money every month (Savings centre)
• invested in shares, practically from the first day that she started work (ISA centre)
• kept tidy, accurate records of her financial life.

So, although I may be familiar with the financial services world and enjoy explaining it to others, it's my other half who is the born Fool. Put it this way, if you like: I'm the noisy talker, and she's the quiet doer. But I'm learning to change my ways, slowly and painfully... in the meantime, I'll count my lucky stars.

Over to eBay now to do some research: what am I bid for this Foolish partner?!!

More confessions: My Dumbest Money Mistakes - Ever! | My Credit-Card Bug | My Worst Investment – Ever!