Do you actually know how much money you have?

Do you know how much money you have in your wallet? What about your bank account?

That’s a good start, but the reality is that people often do not know what their assets look like. For example, do you have multiple bank accounts? How many? How much money is in each?

And that’s just bank accounts. You could also have investments, business assets and money set aside in all sorts of other funds. How closely do you keep track of that?

For many couples, the reality is that only one person handles most of the financial decisions. The other just trusts them to do it.

That can make sense while you’re married, but it could spell trouble down the line. If you get divorced and you haven’t really looked at your finances in years, how can you know if your spouse is hiding assets or reporting everything properly?

For example, one woman said that she knew that she and her husband had bought a life insurance policy. That was all she knew. She had no idea what insurance company sold the policy. She did not know how much they paid or what the policy’s value was. She just knew that they had it in a more abstract way.

This woman’s example is not uncommon. For both men and women, when the other spouse handles the finances, it can breed a sort of complacency. That can be haunting during a divorce.

If you do end up getting divorced and you have complex assets, make sure you understand them and the options you have.