How to talk about money during vacation season

Do you have your summer trip planned yet? Jane Bianchi suggests tossing in some conversations about finances while lounging on the beach.

Bianchi, a writer for LearnVest and Forbes.com, calls it a family financial retreat.

Just 37 percent of adults say they talk openly about money with their families. That's a recipe for disaster when it comes time to pay college bills, doing construction on the house, easing into retirement or dividing up an estate. Bianchi suggests using summer family time to start the conversation.

From LearnVest:

"Most families live such harried lives that they don't take time to work on themselves as a family," says Courtney Pullen, a counselor who's facilitated hundreds of family financial gatherings and trains advisers to do the same. "The advantage of a retreat is that a family can step back--invest in themselves..."

As for how to structure your retreat time, Pullen says there's no one-size-fits-all approach. While some people prefer to get tough talks--like how to eliminate a mound of debt--out of the way, others may want to ease into it by tackling lighter topics first, such as the family's budget for after-school activities.