Rick Springfield Shares the Common-Sense Secret to His 40-Year Marriage with Wife Barbara (Exclusive)

Rick Springfield is opening up about the key to his 40-year marriage.

In this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, the '80s icon, 75, says that he and his wife Barbara Porter, 61, have a guiding rule to "always assume the argument is bulls---."

"Sometimes me and Barbara start arguing, and then we stop and start laughing because it’s a familiar pattern, and we know it means nothing," Springfield says. "Most of our arguments are about things we love, like the dog or a kid. But we always make up. There’s been tough times when we’ve tried to find a third person to talk to, and I think that’s really important. I guess if anyone asks, 'How do you stay married?' I just say, 'Don’t get divorced.' That’s really all it is."

The Australia native first met Porter briefly in the late '70s while working on an album in Los Angeles at Sound City recording studios, where Porter worked.

A few years later, they were brought back together when Springfield started writing and recording his 1981 album Working Class Dog — including his No. 1 hit "Jessie's Girl" — at the studio.

"Nothing started happening [in my career] until I hooked up with her," he says. "That's because, once your attitude changes, and you're open to everything, then things start to happen, and I was kind of closed, I was stressed out not having money and not having any success and being on my own in America, away from my family. When I met her, all of that didn't matter anymore. I still didn't have any money. I still hadn't done anything career-wise, but the power of having someone with you on the journey, you can't underestimate it."

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Through the years, Springfield says he and Porter have both taken turns as the "rock" in their relationship.

"She's been my rock, and I've been her rock," he says. "It trades off. She's definitely the one that has been the core of our relationship, without question, but as we get older, we both go off the deep end and the other one's got to be there to throw the lifesaver and pull them back to shore."

As parents, Springfield says he and Porter have always encouraged their sons Liam, 39, and Joshua, 36, to follow their own paths.

"My youngest son tried to be an agent, he played the drums for a while and he said, 'Oh, I thought I had to be in the same business as you,'" Springfield recalls. "I said, 'No, I just want you to be happy. Do whatever you want.'"

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Currently, Joshua is studying to be a child therapist.

"He's got a great heart and it's really a perfect gig for him," Springfield says. "He's the kind of guy when you meet him, you just want to hug him. He's very warm, and I'm proud of him for pursuing that."

Liam, meanwhile, is still making a name for himself as an actor.

"It's not like a regular gig where you're employed by someone and therefore you feel confident about the money coming in regularly," Springfield says. "But being your own boss does have its rewards. If you love some type of art form, then you don't care if it makes money, as long as you got enough to eat and a roof over your head."

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Springfield — who recently released Volume 2 of his Greatest Hits album and will set out on his I Want My '80s tour on May 28 — speaks from experience.

"I really don't feel like I've ever worked," he says. "I feel overworked sometimes, but when we're going on tour, I say, 'I'm going out to play.' I don't say, 'I'm going to work.' It's always been like that. The passion of doing something that you love is really, truly a gift."

Read the original article on People