Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a reminder that tying the knot with someone means taking on his or her debts. And, according to a survey by CreditCards.com, how we feel about that seems to be a gender-specific thing.
About 70% of women would break it off if they found out their partner had lied about their ability to pay routine bills. That’s the same percentage of women who would stop seeing someone with a criminal history. 66% of women find secret credit card debt a relationship deal-killer, and 55% would cut it off if they found out a partner was heavily in debt.
For whatever reason, guys seem more…forgiving? Those same numbers for men are 50% (vs. 70), 50% (vs. 66) and 37% (vs. 55).
Other fun statistics?
- 57% of women, and 48% of men, say that a partner with debt is a turnoff.
- 57% of women, and 47% of men, think it’s OK to ask for their partner’s credit score before taking the plunge. (ooh, sexy!)
- 68% say that sharing money attitudes is important, BUT…
- 73% say that money causes the most arguments.
Why the gender differences in attitude? Totally unscientific but, with the wage gap, I imagine women are more worried about their future security, and that of their kids. There’s also the depressing notion (and everybody knows someone who has said this) that “we can never begin OUR lives because half of his paycheck goes to the Ex!”
SO… girls, guys –what do you think? Do these things matter to you? Have you ever jumped in blindly and later regretted it? Or did you work through it? What did you learn? Read the article, and let us know!
My wife and I married each other and took on each other’s debts. They weren’t anything huge, and we had no secrets. We paid them off as a team, and worked our way into the positive territory. I feel that having debt was a good lesson to us more than anything!
no secrets…teamwork. that HAS to be the way to go. thanks johnny!