Qualities of Useful Financial Information: How it Translates to Dating Part 1 of 2

In accounting, financial information is considered the most useful when it is relevant, complete, neutral, timely, and free from material misstatement. Also, it should be understandable and use plain language.

Let see how these concepts could be applied to the kind of information being shared in dating:

Relevant: You met a guy and hit it off right away. You talk on the phone all the time and exchange 120 tweets. But if in all that communication, he happens to neglect to tell you that he’s married, there’s a slight problem there.

Complete: He told you about his dog. He told you about his ex. He told you about his mother. But if he forgot to tell you that his ex is still babysitting his dog and his mother still considers his ex to be “the one,” then you’re not getting the whole picture.

Neutral: This happened to me when I was a lot younger and more naive. A boy pretended to be my friend and was giving me all sorts of advice about whom to date, what kind of attributes he should have, etc. Eventually, I caught on that his underlying conclusion is that nobody was worthy except him. If a guy has something to gain, then the information he presents to you will hardly be neutral and free of bias.

(continued in my next post...)