Fiancée has ~$175k in debt. Looking for advice on financial planning before marriage.
New to Reddit so not sure if this is the proper forum or not but looking for financial advice, not relationship advice.
I’m a 32 year old male and my fiancée is a 34 year old female. We’re getting married in April.
I make around $245k total compensation and own a home. She makes around $150k. I have very little debt. She has a significant amount of debt from a combination of student loans, a vehicle loan, credit cards, and a personal loan. Altogether it’s roughly $175k.
Before anyone goes there, I love this woman and fully intend to marry her. She has been completely transparent about her finances from the beginning, and I’m not looking for advice on whether I should marry her. What I’m trying to figure out is how couples in similar situations approached finances before marriage. She recognizes the debt is a problem and wants to address it. We’ve already started discussing things like reducing expenses, creating a debt payoff plan, and making smarter financial decisions going forward. For those who have been in a similar situation:
\- What financial conversations did you have before getting married?
\-What expectations did you set?
\-What financial milestones would you want to see before the wedding?
\-How did you balance supporting your partner
while also protecting your own financial future?
I’m less as interested in legal advice and more interested in hearing how real couples navigated this successfully.