Talking About Money

Dog Ate My Finances recently wrote about lying and personal finance. In short she was confronted by a colleague who insisted on knowing what her student loan payments are, and even though she has payed them off she made up a number. The post spurred a lot of comments and really got me thinking. Many commenter's told her she should be proud of her accomplishment (and it was a big one) and not lie, fewer said they would lie or at least stretch the truth.

I guess I fall in the middle. I definitely don't see myself lying to my close friends, or even my close colleagues, but there are a ton of people who I may not tell the full truth too. I actually believe you should try to fit in at your place of employment. Merit alone won't get you that promotion, relationships matter. I also helps get things done. For example I've noticed that I respond to different people depending on how they interact with me. Those that are nice and friendly I help out quickly, I will still help out those that are rude, but it never becomes a priority (unless of course it is my boss, but she is always nice and friendly). Being able to bond with your colleagues, even if it is just over student loans, is a good thing.

The other thing I find interesting is that her conversation at work was about student loans, which I think is viewed by our culture as acceptable debt. If the conversation was about credit card debt would it change some of the commenter's minds? Would you lie then?

Talking about money is still such a taboo. While as a whole I think our culture should be more open about talking to money (and maybe we are getting there with the recession), we shouldn't feel like we have to share everything.