5 WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR EMOTIONAL INTIMACY WHEN FILING TAXES AS A MARRIED COUPLE
Filing taxes as a married couple can be stressful. Tax season affects several of your 6 Pillars of Intimacy®, so it’s essential to take action to keep your marriage strong.
The tax season can create feelings of dread or frustration, but it is also an opportunity for you and your spouse to improve your emotional intimacy.
With Tax Day right around the corner, learn the top five ways to protect your emotional intimacy when filing taxes as a married couple.
Why Emotional Intimacy Matters
As a married couple, filing taxes can cause new cracks to develop in your 6 Pillars of Intimacy®. One of the pillars most susceptible to cracks during times of stress is your Emotional Intimacy Pillar.
Emotional intimacy is the closeness and connection created through sharing your feelings, thoughts, and desires with each other. When your emotional intimacy is strong, you and your spouse feel safe to share your honest thoughts and concerns.
Strengthening your emotional intimacy during the tax season is key to addressing challenging conversations about money and filing taxes.
Emotional intimacy also influences how well the two of you handle conflict.
Conflict is inevitable in marriage, and the stress of filing taxes as a married couple can cause conflict to arise. Approaching conflict as a team can help keep your emotional intimacy strong.
5 Marriage-Strengthening Strategies for Tax Time
Many married couples experience tension while filing taxes. To protect your emotional intimacy, consider implementing the strategies below.
1. Work as a Team
Filing taxes as a married couple is an opportunity to work together. Help each other with the process, including gathering necessary documents and completing forms.
You can reduce the stress and workload of tax time by delegating tasks between the two of you.
Working together helps create a sense of partnership between you and your spouse. It can also build trust between the two of you, as each person has responsibilities.
Another important reason to work together is to avoid resentment.
Resentment can grow easily if one spouse feels unsupported, especially during a complex tax process. This will quickly create cracks in your Emotional Intimacy Pillar.
To avoid one of you experiencing resentment, work together and take equal responsibility as a married couple filing taxes.
2. Schedule a Date Night
During the tax season, it’s easy for the topic of taxes to appear in almost every conversation. Protect your emotional intimacy by scheduling time to talk about other things.
A date night is an excellent solution for the stress of filing taxes.
Plan time with your spouse to have fun and take your mind off financial matters. Doing new things you enjoy can strengthen your recreational intimacy, and your meaningful conversations can deepen your emotional intimacy.
Date night can also lower your stress levels and help the two of you reconnect. And it doesn’t have to cost a lot.
You could play board games at home, have a picnic, or take a local class together. Go for a sunset drive, take a hike, grab coffee, or explore your city. Bowling, camping, or talking on your porch can all help you strengthen your recreational and emotional intimacy.
3. Seek Outside Support if Needed
Filing taxes as a married couple can introduce new challenges or cause old ones to arise. Additionally, constant conflict or stress regarding taxes can weaken your emotional intimacy.
When filing taxes as a married couple, it may be helpful to consider getting help from a tax specialist, financial advisor, or marriage coach.
There’s nothing wrong with seeking help from a third party. Tax season happens once a year, so taking action this year can improve the process in the future.
4. Communicate Openly and Often
Communication is the key to emotional intimacy. Your connection strengthens when you share your thoughts and feelings with your spouse.
Financial conversations can be uncomfortable or upsetting. Talking with your spouse often and openly helps break down these barriers.
Discuss any anxiety you may feel about taxes. You and your spouse likely have different emotions about money, so tax season is a great time to share these feelings and seek to understand each other.
If you are expecting a refund, it’s important to discuss how you plan to use it. Again, strong emotional intimacy helps create a safe environment for these conversations to occur.
Commit to listening to each other as much as you speak. For instance, if your spouse has a different idea for how to organize paperwork or use a tax refund, hear them out and create a plan for determining the best path forward.
5. Plan Throughout the Year
One of the best ways to protect your marriage from the stress of filing taxes is to maintain your emotional and financial intimacy throughout the year.
When you know what is happening with your finances on a regular basis, you can avoid a lot of shock or confusion during tax time. For example, check in with each other about income changes, retirement funds, charitable donations, and long-term financial goals.
Conversations about the future can also help strengthen both your emotional and financial intimacy.
Furthermore, review your budget together regularly and adjust as needed based on your tax situation. This can help you avoid surprises at tax time.
Taxes will play a role in your financial future, so it’s better to address it directly than try to avoid these crucial conversations.
Resources for Filing Taxes as a Married Couple
Remember, taxes are a temporary task. Use the experience of filing taxes to strengthen your emotional intimacy as a married couple.
To make the tax process simpler, check out the TurboTax Deluxe 2022 Tax Software. With the help of TurboTax, you can get your taxes done right and receive your maximum refund.
Watch the video below to rekindle the spark and restore the connection in your marriage today!
In the 6 Pillars of Intimacy®, you will discover secrets that have transformed countless marriages. Its ideas are simple, practical, and powerful. You’ll be inspired to look at your marriage through a new lens and be encouraged by its commonsense approach.
Alisa and Tony DiLorenzo's proven approach to building intimacy in marriage will help you experience deeper and richer levels of intimacy with your spouse – starting today. Click HERE to get your copy today!
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