Money Talk Matters

I was doing some reading last night on money and marriage and discovered this article sharing how students are not waiting to get married. The motivation for some of these students was that individually they could not afford to pay for their college education. Therefore, once they were married they qualified for a different financial aid package.

WHOAAA! That was a big one for me to read because in my mind they did not think about the responsibilities that come with being married. Not only will they have student loans, but what about the other person’s existing debt. Did they even think about that. I don’t see that as a solution, if you cannot afford to pay for college – marry the person that you are dating so they can pay for your tuition as well.

Listen, when two people get married more than likely one person is bringing some financial baggage into the marriage. Whether or not that has been discussed is another whole post. But the point I am making here is that you should not be so short-sighted or quick to think of this as the only remedy and evaluate what your priorities are. I imagine that there are more stressors as young, married college students, especially if you have different majors. I can see it already, one spouse will get mad if the other one is not there when they have time.

Students – look at the big picture and not what you consider to be the short-term solution to something very valuable. I want you to read this article for yourself – “Studies in marriage“. Hmm, question – What happens if there comes a time when neither one of you can afford to pay for college?