About the author: This is a guest article written by Dorian Wales, a 30-year-old economist with an MBA in finance. Dorian writes frequently on his own blog, The Personal Financier.

Most common investment mistakes are deeply rooted in psychology. Many of these mistakes can be avoided by allowing another person to take part in the process and by giving this person’s opinions and believes an equal weight in decisions taken.

This person could be an investment broker, a financial planner or a trusted friend. However, who is more appropriate and worthy to take part in such sensitive and significant decisions than your life partner?

At first, some might flinch at the thought of an inexperienced or unprofessional person suddenly participating in a process that clearly requires a certain level of understanding and proficiency. Others might claim a spouse has a right to affect the financial decisions of the household.

I believe both arguments hold certain truths. However, I intend to show how allowing another to take part in the financial decision process, more specifically when it comes to investments, common mistakes can be significantly reduced or avoided at all.

Furthermore, a deeper and more intimate relationship has a better chance at avoiding these mistakes due to the mutual respect and understanding between the two partners. This mutual respect will ensure both opinions are heard and decisions will be made together.

As I’ve already stated most common investment mistakes are deeply rooted in psychology. Some mistakes are a result of over-optimism and success-oriented planning. Others are a result of our innate inability to recognize our own mistakes (or success at times).

The following are three general common investment mistakes and how they can be significantly reduced or avoided by allowing your significant other in the decision process:

1. Planning for the wrong investment time frame. Many investors don’t understand their true time horizon, when you plan to need and liquidate your funds, and plan for either shorter or longer periods of investment. Getting the investment time frame wrong usually ends in loss as a result of either not taking enough risk or taking too much risk accordingly.

Deciding on your investment time frame with your partner may produce surprising results. Perhaps you think you will wait five years before having your first child; it’s possible your future wife has other plans. You may suddenly discover your husband isn’t as happy at work as you thought, and he is contemplating a career change requiring higher levels of liquidity.

Communication is an essential part of living together and it is also, therefore, an essential part of your mutual financial planning.

2. Acting on impulse. Whether investing based on trends or on hot tips, selling at the wrong time, or making all-or-nothing decisions, every investor has been there. Every investor makes his share of mistakes. I believe we all had wished someone could have whispered a word of warning in our ears or had calmed us down before we made those hasty and costly decisions.

Another person actively taking part in the decision process acts as a voice of reason. Simply taking the time to consult will often be enough to prevent yet another spontaneous and costly decision.

On a more humorous note, imagine your wife after you’ve just told her about a great stock tip you got from a friend. One sour face and an “I don’t like him” just might cause you to forget you had ever thought about buying shares in that great bio-tech company you heard about.

3. Lack of self discipline. Two people have more discipline than just one. One individual constantly rationalizes reality to suit his wants and needs, convincing himself of certain scenarios and reasons and acting on them only to find reality backfiring on him.

Two people ground and anchor each other. If you’ve ever trained with another person you must know how harder it is to quit or give up on yourself.

Your significant other can help you stand fast against deviating from your goals and prior decisions. This is important when making investing decisions because constant buying or selling is costly in commissions and lost returns.

Naturally, there are many particular investment mistakes which could be classified under these three groups or any other generic list of mistakes. The important message I’ve tried to relay is that your partner is invaluable in the decision-making process.

A less known fact is that women are better investors than men. If you need proof just think about your TV watching habits, constantly zapping between stations (stocks?) never really making the most of a single show.

Consulting with your partner adds value, even if it’s a psychological message rather than professional advice. Who knows? They might like it and turn advisory skills into a profession or a serious hobby.

If you enjoyed this article, please visit The Personal Financier for more thoughts about investing wisely and economic trends from Dorian’s point of view. We would appreciate your comments and reactions, so if you would like to contribute to the discussion, add your comment below.

I’ve never been squeamish talking about finances with friends and acquaintances (partly, I suspect, because of my lack of an internal dialog filter), but I have learned over time that not everybody else is as comfortable as I am, so I try not to use too many specifics when having financial discussions.

However, I think personal finance is one area where your friends can provide a lot of insight and assistance, in essence, be particularly friendly. An interesting thing happened on a Web forum where I hang out. The active population is in roughly the same age range, but we have varying demographic backgrounds. A thread came up about discussing your income and after a few issue-skirting posts to the thread, someone actually came out and described their financial situation in a nutshell, numbers intact. Then the floodgates opened and everybody else added their own.

This is by no means scientific, but I gleaned a few data points from the discussion:

• It’s possible to earn more than me and still be unhappy with your income
• Alternately, it’s possible to earn significantly less, and still be in better financial shape than I am
• Ambition and perception can lead to a higher salary, regardless of what I might think a person’s job is “worth”
• Compared to the vast majority of residents of Earth, we are filthy stinking rich
• A lot of us have no retirement plan, since we spent most of our 20s simply keeping ourselves housed and fed
• People with college degrees get paid more, even if the degree isn’t applicable to the job in question
• To earn what I am earning, I should probably be working a lot harder
• Salary isn’t everything

Have you had similar conversations with friends of yours? What did you learn?

This is a question mainly for readers in a relationship in which finances are mostly combined or you rely on one another for income and make spending decisions together. I am wondering how much you can spend—whether as a percentage of a total budget or a hard dollar amount—without discussing the details with your significant other. Do you hide any spending from your spouse or partner? (Don’t worry, you can answer anonymously.)

Perhaps you each knowingly keep some separate funds to surprise one another, but I’m more concerned with the little things that may go unnoticed. Can this type of deception be harmful? If so, at what limit would it hurt you or your partner?

Also, do you have or would you consider having a secret bank account? If so, what is it used for?

Ginger is a fashionista in her late 20s—a wife and graduate student striving to have it all. She wrote this article for Consumerism Commentary, but Ginger also publishes the blog Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, and you can subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed here.

Let me preface this by stating that I am not suggesting that women marry solely for money, I am after all a believer in love and commitment as a solid foundation for marriage. However, I am suggesting that women who marry partners that are financially savvy, motivated by money and have aligned views about their attitudes to money, are indeed smarter than their counterparts who don’t when choosing a life partner. I will detail the benefits of choosing a partner that has a solid financial plan in place and uses money as a tool and not a crutch.

Financially Savvy

Women who choose financially savvy partners fare better than their counterparts who don’t. Why? These women know that in order to have a marriage built to last that finances play a huge role in the viability of the marriage. I know it sounds like we’re discussing a corporate merger but bear with me; after all, marriage in some respects is like a business.

1969 Inc., said it best when asked for her insights to marriage,

It’s like running a corporation. A business venture. You have to go into it knowing that it could fail or it could succeed beyond your wildest dreams and make you rich… If the employees don’t share the vision, believe in the vision and work together, the endeavor will fail. Some businesses will get rich. Some will barely make ends meet. Some will never make a dime. The money does not measure success. The sense of accomplishment will come from the daily struggle… the love of what you do, working together day in and day out.

The reality is that personal finance issues are the leading cause of divorce and in order to live happily ever after, you must be on the same page as far as your finances are concerned. No, if, ands or buts about it. Capisce?

So what makes these women smarter?

Aligned Financial Values

When smart women meet a partner, they aren’t wooed by good looks and the smooth talk, after all those come a dime a dozen. These women are looking at how their potential partners spend money. Does he have an emergency fund? Is he current on their monthly bills such as the car payment and rent/mortgage? Does he spend more than he earns? They’re listening keenly to understand how their potential mates relate to money. Is it a tool? Is it a crutch? They know the difference and conduct business accordingly. Should the potential mate fall into the category of the above mentioned then it’s time to say good-bye. After all, who wants a man who isn’t interested in learning how to manage his money effectively? They are in it for the long haul, not a few cheap dates.

Motivated by Money to Create the Life They Want

Smart women are up to date on the latest issues in personal finance. They understand rate chasing, investing for the long haul and understand that while they may have substantial savings, practice and embrace frugality. They look for similar if not the same qualities in their potential mates. Smart women want to be able to relate not only on a romantic level, but also on issues regarding personal finance.

A Man with a Plan

Who wants a man with no financial plan in place? I certainly don’t. Where does he see himself in 2 years? 5 years? 10 years? Is he thinking long or short term? That answer will determine the course of the relationship. Ideally he should be able to think past next month’s car payment and project how much he will have in his savings account by year’s end. This an expectation for smart women, not a hope or a dream, but something they demand and require in a potential mate.

Take a few minutes to let it all sink in. Gone are the days when gold diggers were secretly envied because they were able to go for the gusto and stifle high pitched screams during musty sex with a shriveled up oil tycoon. Move over and make way for women who are in control of their financial destinies and not afraid to say it. They are armed with a positive net worth and not afraid to flaunt it.

Are you a smart woman?

If you liked this article, read more from Ginger at Girls Just Wanna Have Funds.