About the former, I thought that a mistake. In my case, I was the better financier, but I know of a few guys who would lead the families to financial ruin if they ran the finances without help.

I think the idea of letting him run the checkbook is that whomever holds the purse strings has just a little bit more power and in her thinking that should be the man.

As to the latter, I don't like the idea of faking helplessness to bolster a man's ego, but I can tell you that a man would like his woman to believe he is effective, and if she's out there all the time trying to prove how effective she is, he misses that chance.