Myra Strober is a labor economist and Professor Emerita at Stanford University. She was the founding director of the Stanford Center for Research on Women (now the Clayman Institute for Gender Research) and the first chair of the National Council for Research on Women. You can find more information on her latest book MONEY AND LOVE: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life’s Biggest Decisions at https://www.moneylovebook.com/

We are often told that love and money decisions need separate approaches; we should leave romantic decisions to our hearts and make financial choices with our heads. However, in their new book MONEY AND LOVE: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life’s Biggest Decisions (HarperOne, January 10, 2023), Stanford professor Myra Strober and social innovation leader Abby Davisson argue that relationship decisions involve money and career as well as love, and career decisions affect family.

Take the money and love quiz!

The authors provide a reassuring framework, the 5Cs, to ensure that readers consider all aspects of love and money decisions–vital decisions that determine the course of their lives. Should you move in with your partner, have another child, move to a new city, accept a career promotion? The 5Cs framework offers a simple approach to making complex choices.

1. Clarify what’s important to you: to make an effective decision you must first understand what you truly want and what you don’t

2. Communicate: as you clarify what you want, open up a two-way dialogue with others involved in the decision

3. Consider a Broad Range of Choices: few decisions are strictly either/or, and one key to better decision-making is broadening your alternatives

4. Check-in with Friends, Family, and Other Resources: sharing your thought process or reaching out to others can bring new insights

5. Explore Likely Consequences: weigh the short-term and long-term consequences of different choices before you make a final decision

This book is the perfect guide we all need as we grapple with the dramatic shifts in relationship and career roles in today’s post-pandemic era.

For the series Heterodox Approaches.