As for you comments on spouses investing together, my wife and I do it, basically we have a kind of deal where I handle any finances over $10,000 and she deals with the smaller things like our monthly bills. When we want to make a major purpose she nows the monthly impact it will have and I look at the grander scale of the investment itself. She basically says real estate is my thing so I can do it my way. It works for us but we also have completely opposite personalities so we are a good team, complementing each others faults.