A woman from Las Vegas says she is struggling to understand how to move forward in her marriage after years of financial separation from her husband.<\/p>\n
Speaking on \u201cThe Ramsey Show<\/a>\u201d recently, Lisa explained that despite being married for four years, her husband refuses to combine their finances. The situation recently became even more complicated after he was laid off from his job and she discovered he had been gambling.<\/p>\n A Marriage With Separate Money<\/p>\n Lisa said both she and her husband are in their second marriage. Early in the relationship, he was open to combining finances, but things eventually moved in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n The issue became more pressing after her husband lost the job he had held for 25 years. Despite no longer having steady employment, he still refuses to merge their financial lives.<\/p>\n Don’t Miss: Most founders obsess over the wrong hires. See the 5 startup roles that actually determine whether a company scales or stalls.<\/a><\/p>\n Co-host Jade Warshaw immediately questioned how he was managing to pay for his expenses.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he\u2019s not making an income, how is he living if he refuses to combine finances<\/a>?\u201d Warshaw asked.<\/p>\n Lisa said her husband is currently receiving unemployment benefits. But she also recently discovered he had been betting on sports online<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know he was gambling,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know this till he won $50,000 like 30 days ago.\u201d<\/p>\n The winnings, Lisa said, have helped him cover expenses for now.<\/p>\n Warshaw said the gambling detail raised concerns about transparency in the marriage.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who don\u2019t want transparency are generally trying to hide something,\u201d she said. \u201cNot always, but a lot of times that\u2019s especially if they\u2019re adamant about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Warshaw added that gambling itself is not necessarily the problem, but the secrecy surrounding money can signal deeper issues.<\/p>\n Trending: Think you’re saving enough for your kids? You might be dangerously off \u2014 see why<\/a><\/p>\n A Question Of Trust<\/p>\n Lisa said her husband claims the reason he refuses to combine finances is simple.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just says he doesn\u2019t trust me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Yet Lisa described herself as financially stable. Before the marriage, she built a triplex property<\/a> and has since paid it off entirely. The property now generates rental income.<\/p>\n She also works two jobs, though she emphasized that she does so by choice.<\/p>\n \u201cI work two jobs just because I like it, not because I have to,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Financial experts note that building passive income streams can help provide stability in situations like this. Platforms like Arrived<\/a> let investors buy shares in rental properties, offering the chance to earn consistent rental income without managing an entire property \u2014 a strategy that can give individuals more financial security and flexibility in their relationships.<\/p>\n At one point in the marriage, the couple did open a joint checking account. But according to Lisa, her husband slowly stopped using it and began depositing his income into another account.<\/p>\n Warshaw noticed inconsistencies in Lisa\u2019s description of how the financial separation developed.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I heard a couple of different things,\u201d Warshaw said, noting that the story shifted between whether Lisa initially resisted combining finances or simply had no money to contribute at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that this is a numbers or really a money conversation per se,\u201d Warshaw said.<\/p>\n See Also: Before you make an offer, ask these 6 questions every homebuyer should know \u2014 or face serious regret later.<\/a><\/p>\n Co-host Ken Coleman agreed and suggested the couple seek outside help.<\/p>\n \u201cYou guys need to go sit with a marriage therapist who is objective and guiding you both at the same time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Coleman added that the couple appeared to be operating independently instead of functioning as a unified partnership.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re like ships in the night a little bit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Case For Couples To Combine Finances<\/p>\n Warshaw used the call as an example of why the Ramsey team encourages married couples to merge their finances<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to her, financial transparency plays a major role in building trust within a marriage.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t function properly in marriage with someone you don\u2019t trust,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can\u2019t function properly in marriage with someone you wouldn\u2019t be willing to give your passcode to, that you wouldn\u2019t be willing to let them see all of your purchases.\u201d<\/p>\n She also noted that issues around money often appear in second marriages, where past experiences can make people more cautious.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost like there\u2019s a framework that we have for first marriages, but we don\u2019t carry that framework into the second marriage,\u201d Warshaw said.<\/p>\n Read Next: Experts say these common ETF pitfalls can catch new investors off guard<\/a><\/p>\n Image: Shutterstock<\/p>\n Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge’s one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights<\/a> that can set you ahead in today’s competitive market.<\/p>\n Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga:<\/p>\n This article Her Husband Won’t Combine Finances Because He Says He Doesn’t Trust Her. Yet, She’s The One Working Two Jobs While He’s An Unemployed Gambler<\/a> originally appeared on Benzinga.com<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a9 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman from Las Vegas says she is struggling to understand how to move forward in her marriage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[72,176,5028,158164,61,60,174,175],"class_list":["post-346914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-finances","tag-husband-refuses","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}