A friend once joked that "the quickest way to transfer money is through Western Union” but no! It is through marriage. Some may argue that a man has to take care of his wife and I don’t disagree but why should I disclose what I earn to my wife? And it’s not about the fear of her finding out that maybe I earn less than she does but it is about having a peaceful marriage. 

No reasonable woman is going to throw a tantrum because her husband has refused to declare his income to her. Telling a woman your income is akin to handing her a blank cheque or an ATM complete with your password. First of all, I’m yet to meet a woman who doesn’t love shopping. She enters a boutique and wants to move out with everything. Any new trend, she wants to own and most times she’ll not even use it for long. Women shop on impulse; they will buy a Rwf 50,000 item at Rwf 10,000 (they are good at bargaining) which they won’t use. 

That is something that you can’t control. What about those who marry for the sake of the money? You get married and six months later she wants a divorce and 80% of your income, which I find ludicrous to say the least. Plus, telling her how much you earn will limit how you spend your income as she’ll decide how you spend it– and I find that controlling. 

Besides, how sure are you that when she throws a tantrum she won’t start insinuating that you treat her that way because you have a lot of money? I will not go into the details of how she’ll want to brag to her friends about how rich her husband is –that guy who ends up looking like a cash cow that married a gold-digger.  

More to the point, how many women would tell their husbands how much they earn? I’m guessing like 1per cent because of their spending habits which compete with the constantly rising levels of inflation. If push came to shove, you can tell her maybe like half of what you earn and that will not stop you from loving and caring for her but that’s if it is a must. 

To be on the safe side and not to hurt your ego, shut up and live happily ever after.