Between financially helping his parents and losing income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeremy Mazza landed into serious credit card debt. Relief came from a source he wasn’t expecting: his partner, Ginna Lambert, who had come into a small inheritance. She suggested “investing” part of her bounty in their shared future by lending small amounts to Mazza that he could apply toward his debt.
It took a bit of convincing.
“To have to ask for money when I was the provider and had parents who themselves were asking for money, I didn’t want to follow in their footsteps and be taking,” Mazza says. “But that’s not what this was, this was a caring thing.”
Mazza and Lambert approached the situation with open communication and specific loan terms. And for them, it’s paying off: Mazza estimates his credit score went up by about 150 points. The couple, who live in Richmond, Virginia, are getting married this year, and they hope to buy a home soon as well.
“I had a very, very, very vested interest in making sure my partner’s credit score and finances were in as good of a shape as possible,” Lambert says.
While joint debt is a shared responsibility, individual debts you bring into a relationship are ultimately yours to tackle. Still, they can get in the way of making life plans as a couple, so it may make sense for your significant other to help you with your debt in some way. But don’t enter into an arrangement of this kind without a plan.
Get vulnerable with the full financial picture
It’s essential to be open with each other about your individual financial situations, especially as your relationship gets more serious.
“If a couple is planning to get married, it’s a good idea to have a conversation before tying the knot,” says Trina Patel, a Los Angeles-based senior financial advice manager at Albert, a financial services company.
Schedule a few distraction-free money dates where you talk about what’s going on for each of you….
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