A friend called one day.
She was very distraught.
Even though she and her husband each had a good job, she'd found the bills weren't being paid.
Her son had discovered stacks of unpaid bills hidden in a closet, her husband had drained their son's college fund, and she found massive bills from credit cards she didn't even know existed.
Even though she had always felt secure financially, she now knew that the bottom had fallen out of that security.
She felt a host of negative feelings, from anger to fear to betrayal, and she didn't know where to turn to start to straighten out the problem.
Every day couples go under financially.
It may be that one partner has spending habits that he or she keeps secret, or it could be that both spouses spend more than they earn.
Whatever the cause, money problems hurt a marriage, and many never recover after hitting rock bottom.
Data in independent studies reveals that it is difficult to build a married relationship when there isn't complete honesty about money.
It's almost impossible to understand why couples ask each other about past relationships, their education, their jobs, and many other things to get to know them, but fail to check out their credit rating or financial values prior to tying the knot.
It's what you don't know that can hurt you.
In these troubled financial times, there are several questions you need to find out answers to regarding your prospective mate's financial situation.
They include: * What is your credit card debt? * What's your credit score? * Is the partner you're considering a spender or a saver? What makes you think so? * Which category do your place your own spending habits in? When the stars of romance are in your eyes, you may not think issues like these are important, but they quickly will become high priorities once you've gotten married.
Therefore, you need to discuss financial values with each other to see if you're on the same page.
Talk about your individual feelings about being in debt.
Work out a monthly budget based on your current earnings, not only to see if you'll be able to make ends meet, but also to discover where the money will be going.
If you are a frugal individual who can't tolerate owing money and are considering matrimony with a partner who has a substantial college loan debt, the chances of you being happy in your union aren't nearly as great as if the debt didn't exist.
The old saying tells you to look before you leap, and it's definitely a good idea when you're considering taking on the lifetime commitment of marriage.
Statistics show that couples who have no financial assets are 70% more likely to divorce than are couples who have assets of at least $10,000.
You can cut your chances of divorce by making wise decisions about the financial characteristics of your intended before you ever say "I do".