Money can sometimes feel easier to manage in your business than in your relationship. In this episode, I sit down with Ed Coambs to gently explore what happens when you bring your money skills home and begin navigating them alongside a partner. We talk about financial intimacy, emotional safety, and what it truly takes to have honest, grounded conversations when two nervous systems — and two lifelong money stories — are in the room.

"Financial intimacy is the experience of being able to talk openly, safely, vulnerably about your shared financial life, your money hopes, dreams, aspirations, as well as your fears, worries, and anxieties." - Ed Coambs

Building Financial Intimacy and Healthy Money Conversations

In a relationship, money is rarely just about numbers. It’s about safety, power, vulnerability, and the stories we each carry from childhood into adulthood. In this conversation, Ed and I unpack how financial intimacy gets built — and how it quietly breaks down — through everyday conversations and unspoken dynamics.

I often see couples fall into predictable roles: one partner pushes to engage with money, the other pulls away. Over time, these roles can harden into resentment or shutdown, especially when income shifts, career growth, or differing values enter the picture.

Repair is possible! It begins with slowing down, naming old hurts, owning the part you’ve played in past conflicts, and choosing to approach money conversations with collaboration instead of defensiveness. When you tend to both the emotional and practical sides of money together, trust deepens — and conflict softens.

Emotional Patterns, Relationship Shifts, and Money Conversations

Money shows up in relationships through tone, body language, and nervous system reactions — not just spreadsheets. In this episode, we dig into what’s happening underneath the surface when money becomes tense.

(00:04:39) Understanding Financial Intimacy

(00:06:54) Exploring Emotions Around Money

(00:15:21) Couples and Evolving Money Views

(00:18:32) Navigating Money Dynamics in Relationships

(00:21:52) Owning Your True Feelings

(00:27:40) Modeling Respect Through Conversations

(00:30:11) Money and Relationships with Kindness

What It Really Takes to Talk About Money Together

Building financial intimacy means learning how to stay present when money stirs up fear, shame, or old family patterns. When you start noticing the emotional tone of your conversations — not just the content — you can begin to shift from tension into connection.

When you begin speaking honestly about what money really represents for you — security, freedom, worth, control — power struggles often soften. Over time, those small moments of repair and respect not only change your relationship, they quietly shape the money story your children will inherit as well.

Ready to Improve your Business Money Skills?

Are you a Solo Private Practice Owner?

I made this course just for you: Money Skills for Therapists. My signature course has been carefully designed to take therapists from money confusion, shame, and uncertainty – to calm and confidence. In this course I give you everything you need to create financial peace of mind as a therapist in solo private practice.

Want to learn more? Click here to register for my free masterclass, “The 4 Step Framework to Get Your Business Finances Totally in Order.”

This masterclass is your way to get a feel for my approach, learn exactly what I teach inside Money Skills for Therapists, and get your invite to join us in the course.

Are you a Group Practice Owner?

Money Skills for Group Practice Owners is a six-month course that takes you from feeling like an overworked, stressed and underpaid group practice owner, to being the confident and empowered financial leader of your group practice. Click here to learn more and join the waitlist.

Get to know Ed Coambs, CFP®, CFT-I™, LMFT:

Ed Coambs is a financial therapist and the founder of Healthy Love and Money. Drawing from his experience in financial planning and couples therapy, he helps partners understand the emotional roots of money conflict and build financial intimacy grounded in safety and connection. He’s also the author of The Healthy Love and Money Way, where he explores how attachment styles influence our financial well-being and our closest relationships.

Connect with Healthy Love and Money:

Take the Attachment Style Quiz Related to Money: https://www.healthyloveandmoney.com/attachment-style-quiz

Read the Book: https://www.healthyloveandmoney.com/the-healthy-love-and-money-way

Listen to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1634843162

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/healthyloveandmoney/

Mentioned in this episode:

Want to work with Linzy?

Check out the FREE masterclass, The 4 Step Framework to Getting Your Business Finances Totally in Order, where you'll learn the framework that has helped hundreds of therapists go from money confusion and shame to calm and confidence, as well as the three biggest financial mistakes that therapists make. At the end, you'll be invited to join Money Skills for Therapists and get Linzy's support in getting your finances finally working for you. Click on the link to find a masterclass time that works for you!