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Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?


@drkaje wrote:

The "talk" should be with yourself before seriously dating anyone. Smiley Happy


+100,000

 

I didn't find out about my wife's finances until I asked her father for his blessing... He pulled out some envelopes (collectors) and said, before you do this, you need to know some things... (They were all from an ex that ripped her credit to shreds). But, my credit was barely recovering at that point anyway, but I did bring it up after proposing. (Basically, in Texas at least, debt previous to marriage (generally) remains a non-community obligation (i.e. separate).)

 

Since then, both of us are sticking to plan and any financial decisions are committee only. It's worked 100% perfectly, after we ironed out the wrinkles of course Smiley Happy

 

The worst thing you can do is not talk about it at all!

Message 11 of 25
marty56
Super Contributor

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?


@crunching_numbers wrote:
I think there is the honesty and trust factor here too. If you could be dishonest about $70K of debt, how could she trust the rest?

 


 

Except for my baby sister who always believed in me, everyone else told me the same thing.

 

How many people tell their friends and other family members about their debt?  It that being dishonest?

Would you dump your best friend, sister or brother because of it?

Exactly how does my CC debt hurt you if I am responsble for paying it and pay it on time?

 

I worked hard to get ride of my CC debt.  I have a great DW who loves me for who I am, not for how much money I make or what is on my CR.

 

I know most people here won't agree with me but I am lucky to have at least 2 people in my life who do.  That's enough for me.

 

1/25/2021: FICO 850 EQ 848 TU 847 EX
Message 12 of 25
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?

@Marty,

 

I don't think people get left at the altar for CC debt. If everything were out in the open you would have gotten another excuse.


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Message 13 of 25
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?


@marty56 wrote:

@crunching_numbers wrote:
I think there is the honesty and trust factor here too. If you could be dishonest about $70K of debt, how could she trust the rest?

 


 

Except for my baby sister who always believed in me, everyone else told me the same thing.

 

How many people tell their friends and other family members about their debt?  It that being dishonest?

Would you dump your best friend, sister or brother because of it?

Exactly how does my CC debt hurt you if I am responsble for paying it and pay it on time?

 

I worked hard to get ride of my CC debt.  I have a great DW who loves me for who I am, not for how much money I make or what is on my CR.

 

I know most people here won't agree with me but I am lucky to have at least 2 people in my life who do.  That's enough for me.

 


Maybe it wasn't the debt itself, but the fact that you kept it a secret. Or maybe you didn't, she knew all along, and used it as an excuse. (I lost track of the timeline.)

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Message 14 of 25
marty56
Super Contributor

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?


@drkaje wrote:

@Anonymous,

 

I don't think people get left at the altar for CC debt. If everything were out in the open you would have gotten another excuse.


Yes I knew it was an excuse. 

 

In answer to the OP's question and if I had it to do over again, I would have mentioned it on the first date.

 


 

1/25/2021: FICO 850 EQ 848 TU 847 EX
Message 15 of 25
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?


@marty56 wrote:

@drkaje wrote:

@Anonymous,

 

I don't think people get left at the altar for CC debt. If everything were out in the open you would have gotten another excuse.


Yes I knew it was an excuse. 

 

In answer to the OP's question and if I had it to do over again, I would have mentioned it on the first date.

 


 


Finances affect all aspects of relationships, on some level. That being said; a person in love will live with you under a bridge... they just need to know how to pack in advance. Smiley Happy


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Message 16 of 25
Scope27
Regular Contributor

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?

With me being 25 and about to go down on bended knee in two weeks to propose to by GF of 4 years I say if you truly are 100% comfortable and seek a future with her then the finance talk should follow soon.  I am not one to tell ppl my financial situation until I am in a committed relationship with that person and trust has been established on both sides.  When I met my gf I had a part-time job, 80% of my finances went to bills and the rest went to food and gas.  I knew I wasnt in a position to have a girlfriend.  She insisted on being in a relationship and I laid my financials on the table at that moment as I was comfortable with her and we've been talking for a few months then.  She helped me establish a better budget without ever lending a dollar.  Shortly after I got a better job and she made me maintain my same budget and I was only utilizing about 30-40% of my monthly income.  Had I not initiated that talk IDK how my finances would be now but I know my credit will still be shot and I wouldnt be a homeowner now.  I highly suggest having the talk if you feel he is the one. 

Message 17 of 25
vanillabean
Valued Contributor

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?

Human beings have all kinds of irrational fears and anxieties about everyday objects and situations: spiders and snakes, heights and enclosed spaces, airplanes and needles. Finances.

I'm kidding. The last word is Math. But are finances and math all that separate? They're both about handling numbers. Anxiety becomes avoidance. When people say warmer temperatures instead of higher temperatures, maybe that's avoidance filled with sugar coding. A temperature is a number and a number can't be warm, but the word warm has a feel good thing about it. And warm is self-contained; it doesn't matter if it's hot chocolate or a summer day, we love it. High and low need a reference to make sense. No avoidance there.

Not that therapeutic counseling may be needed necessarily. Interestingly, the children with math anxiety weren't actually bad at math - they got about the same number of answers right as their anxiety-free peers - but it took them more time to solve the problems. Of course it'll be much longer before they get married. Smiley Very Happy

Message 18 of 25
Tonya-E
Established Contributor

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?

I would say have mini-talks the whole while you are regularly dating. When I say mini-talks I mean the light but probing questions that give you a little bit of insight. But the "big" talk needs to defnitely be at the point in your relationship when you find yourself getting serious with the person and BEFORE marriage. I didn't do that and I wish that I would have.  Even if one of you has problems, it at least gives you both time to plan a financial strategy before you make that type of commitment.  It makes things much easier.  But you live and you learn. I am just learning this at 35!  I should have known it years ago.  That is the one thing I do stress to my daughter since she has left home for college. When she meets the right person that she is thinking of settling down with, she should never be afraid to discuss these types of things.  It's just as important as asking someone their career path or how many children they want to have.  People are less reluctant to ask those types of questions, but are very sensitive about discussing finances.  All of those things are intertwined.

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Message 19 of 25
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Advice Needed: When to Have the "Finance" Talk?

I would say its definately time to start talking. If you see yourself being with this person in a long term relationship, its going to be beneficial to get everything out in the open... my fiance and I met on match.com, I think we talked about it on our 3rd date....  all he knew was that I had a job. He was asking me things like why did I have two vehicles and this and that... and I'm like, um did my profile list my income... I was real embarrassed because he is very country and down to earth and at that time he was making much less than he does now. I was making over 100k and he was making around 28k... now he's up to 65k with some strategic career changes.

 

I think the main thing is that I wanted him to be the kind of guy that money didn't matter. and he's real proud of me and who I am and my work. So ya, litereally I found out he was the kind of guy that would be happy living under a bridge because he didn't need material things to be happy. Literally we spent 2 months on the fold out couch of my dad's fifth wheel and he never complained.  Luckily we moved into our new home in January... I think the house search and underwriting made us talk about money more and be more comfortable with the topic

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Message 20 of 25
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