Dear Quentin,
The past year has seen a lot of changes in my personal life. Most of all, the love of my life consented to marry me. Great! We found out shortly after that she was pregnant. I am overjoyed and can’t wait to start my family! It will be the first child for both of us.
I was already staring into the barrel at the price of a wedding, and my mind went into high gear with the news that a little one was on the way. I have started restructuring my personal finances to anticipate this new “adventure” of ours. My future wife has asked that I do the same for her in the near future, as she admittedly is not the most financially educated herself.
We’re both in our early 30s and both earn more than six figures a year – even though my fiancée earns about 30% more a year than me. She started working right out of high school, so she doesn’t have student loans. She has debts, but nothing substantial. I owe a very small amount for my student loan (less than $ 10,000) and a small amount for my car (about $ 7,500).
My question is: how and when should I pay off my debts? I don’t necessarily want to pass my debt on to my future wife as we will have to buy a house at some point and I don’t want it to affect her creditworthiness. I have a budget to pay off all of my debts in full before the baby arrives.
However, I will get married before I can pay all of the amount I owe. My fiancée, who has more cash than me, has offered to pay the debt in full as we will bring all the assets together once we are married anyway. I just want to make the most careful decision about the new additions to my family as well as myself.
Does the timing of all of this matter? Or do I make mountains out of molehills?
Soon married
You can email The Moneyist at [email protected] with any financial and ethical issues related to coronavirus and follow Quentin Fottrell on Tweet.
Dear soon,
This is a happy story indeed! There are so few around these parts. I’ll tell you what I would do and then I’ll add what you could do. They differ slightly as I would like to answer your question – without being overly prescriptive or presumptuous.
If I were in your place, I would have the smallest, least expensive, and intimate wedding in my back yard, a friend’s back yard, or a restaurant with a back yard, and put all the money I spent on the wedding on my loans .
I would later hold a wedding party when people could circulate more freely and my finances were more balanced. It would allow me to celebrate the wedding with my family and close friends and have a more public party later.
The average cost of a wedding ranges from $ 12,400 in Arkansas to $ 30,400 in Massachusetts. depending on the survey. Of course, people can and do a lot more to spend on their special day. A lot of money for a lot of stress.
“
It makes sense to get rid of both loans in this low-interest environment, but only if it doesn’t delay other goals such as saving for a house.
”
It makes sense to get rid of both loans in this low-interest environment, but only if it doesn’t delay other goals such as saving for a house. You can then set up a joint account and use your existing payment plan to save $ 17,500.
You have little reason to worry about your wife’s creditworthiness. A credit-worthiness is based on the payment history, the use of your available credit, the addition of new credit, the duration of your credit rating and your credit mix.
This is a very exciting period in life. You are young enough to have the best part of your life in front of you with a break the average student loan debt and you are old enough to have the agency and energy to make it happen. Enjoy the ride!
By emailing your questions, you consent to their being posted anonymously on MarketWatch. By submitting your story to Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of MarketWatch, you agree that we may use your story or versions of it in all media and platforms, including through third parties.
cash the Money is private Facebook Group in which we look for answers to life’s thorniest questions of money. Readers write to me with all sorts of dilemmas. Ask your questions, tell me what you want to know more about, or take part in the latest Moneyist columns.
The moneyist regrets not being able to answer questions one by one.
More from Quentin Fottrell:
Recent Comments