This is Dating While Gray, the grownups guide to love, sex and relationships.

I'm Laura Stasi.

If you're like me, you'd rather talk about anything but your bank account.

Stick with me.

We're going to face it together on this episode of romance and money.

When it comes to older people and money, here are two facts. Number one, time is not on our side. We have more

earning years behind us than ahead of us, and there's less time for any invested dollars to grow.

Number two, some of us, especially if we're uncoupled, are worth less than we used to be.

Maybe we lost a job and couldn't find another

one that pays as well. Or we got overwhelmed with medical bills for a dying spouse. Maybe we got

divorced and divided it all up. And unless we're like Jeff Bezos, who split a multi-billion

dollar pot in his gray divorce, we're feeling pinched.

So I think it's understandable that a lot of gray daters are uncomfortable talking with potential

partners about money. We may feel uneasy about our personal financial picture.

What details should you reveal about what you have, what you want,

what you need? We worry we'll be judged. I know I judge. I roll my eyes if ever a date tells me

about all the money he had to pay to the ex-wife who stayed home to raise their kids. Does he

seriously believe that has no value? Not to mention

enabling him to focus on his career. Maybe I'm not being completely fair. He really could have

gotten a bad deal. And now he wants to make sure women are not interested in him only for his money.

In fact, some of us have been so financially burned that we

literally can't afford to be vulnerable. It's a lot to think about. So I've asked for help from

...