Imagine for a moment that you've met Jess, your absolute dream mate and the one person with whom you want to spend the rest of your life. A perfect combination of gorgeous good looks and Nobel Prize-worthy smarts, you love Jess and Jess loves you, and the two of you now live together—but there's a problem.

Jess likes to buy the very best of everything - immediately - even if it means charging it to a credit card with a burgeoning balance. On the other hand, you will only buy what you can afford. You prefer to shop around to find the best deal where you can get the most for your money, and only for things that you either need or have for which you've been saving up.

"No worries," you tell yourself - "Jess has been doing this for years and hasn't landed in debtor's prison or bankruptcy. I don't like the impetuous spending, but I don't want to ruin a good thing by appearing like some kind of disapproving cheapskate, so I'll just keep quiet. It's not my money, and it doesn't affect me."

Well, think fast - what's the most common cause of divorces in the United States? Infidelity? Wrong. Incompatibility? Nope. The #1 cause of divorce in the US is arguments over money. Money plays a major part in all relationships—married, unmarried co-habitors and even same-sex—and any secrets or disagreements over finances can ultimately lead to the disintegration of a partnership that was otherwise fairy-tale quality.

In her new book Financial Bliss: A Couple's Guide to Merging Money and Building a Rich Life Together (AMACOM, January '07), renowned financial planner Bambi Holzer shows couples how to avoid the financial pitfalls in their relationships by learning to understand, communicate and plan in a way that allows them to overcome potential money issues and build toward a better future together.

By reading Financial Bliss, couples will discover:

• How to determine their individual "money personalities" and the differences between each partner's style
• How to "marry" these different tolerances for financial risks and match compromises with individual and shared aspirations.
• How to expand financial "comfort zones" in order to have productive communications and make mutually beneficial decisions on money issues
• How to reach decisions about money in a realistic, non-confrontational and effective way.
• How and when to schedule family financial planning meetings to determine a budget and set goals for saving and purchases
• What essential documents should always be on hand
• How to work through all of the life stages that couples face—marriage, home-ownership, having children, college savings, retirement and death
• How to successfully invest now in order to plan for the future

Putting to print the process she uses when consulting the clients of her Beverly Hills financial planning practice, Bambi combines her years of experience and wisdom with eye-opening stories of real-life couples and simple, yet powerful, self-assessment quizzes to make Financial Bliss the ultimate step-by-step guide to understanding finances as a couple.

Knowledge is Power; Power is Control; Control is Security; Security is Bliss. Much more than 'another personal finance book,' Financial Bliss is also a relationship book that will give couples the kind of financial knowledge necessary to achieve the bliss they desire.

FINANCIAL BLISS: A Couple's Guide to Merging Money Style and Building a Rich Life Together
By: Bambi Holzer
Pub. Date: January 2007
ISBN: 0-8144-0885-0
Publisher: AMACOM