Financing Relationships - The Most Useful Type of Banking

One of the reasons why I started this blog was my fascination with finding relationships between subjects that were seemingly unrelated and to connect them in a way that is relevant and thought provoking. I believe that almost everything is related in one way or another but to find a meaningful connection between topics that seem so exclusive from one another is always a treat.


One such connection is the relation between: 

Basic Banking Principles and Successful Life Relationships

Who could have thought that one could use basic banking principles as an instruction manual for successfully managing our relationships. Let me give you some quick highlights into this interesting correlation:

1. Making Deposits: Most of the time, you can only take money out of the bank if you put money into the bank. This is widely accepted and is how most people do their banking. Now when it comes to relationships, if you just remember this simple principle of making deposits before your withdrawals, I am sure your relationships will grow just like the money you put in the bank. 


Before I move on to the next banking principle, let me elaborate slightly to make the point more clear. Now deposits and withdrawals in banking are easily understood but what does it mean when I say a deposit or withdrawal in a relationship? Well, if you ever needed a favor from a friend, wasn't it always easier if you've helped that friend before? If you ever wanted your significant other to forgive you, wasn't he/she more willing if you've forgiven him/her in the past. I am sure you can find many of your own examples that can fit into this mold. Remember: Just like banking, overdrawn accounts are penalized heavily (think of the husband who comes home late one too many times).

Someone has bad credit

2. Credit: Bankers, especially during these tough times, will only lend money to those they deem credit worthy. Just like relationships, you are not going to get any more credit if you constantly take out loans and don't repay them back. We all know of people who have excellent credit and surrounded by others who are willing to go out of their way to help them and I am sure many of us have also known people who are constantly taking out loans on relationships who eventually build up such a bad reputation that no one is willing to help them anymore. If only the government would broaden the scope of their bailout...

You need to cross your fingers anytime
you are investing

3. Investments: Keeping your money in a savings account will usually yield less return than in an investment account but an investment account not only involves risk but also a lot of work. This is similar to when two people spend more time together and depending on what they are doing they can either make their relationship grow closer (positive return) or they can end up arguing and hurting their relationship (negative return). There are of course "safer" investments than others but there is always risk. When you are investing, you always want to remember that past returns do not guarantee future performance.

So what does this all mean. Well if you want to have successful relationships, just do exactly the things you would to have a nice and healthy bank account:

• Make frequent deposits as often as you can
• Don't take out loans unless you really need to
• Invest carefully and diversify your portfolio