Help! Sorry this is long, but it's a complicated situation. My husband and I have been married 11 months. We chose not to combine finances because I brought a net worth of $153,000 to our marriage and he brought a lot $60,000 in debt. I am also EXTREMELY anal about my finances. Besides my house which is half paid off and very modest, I have never had any debt. So I can't relate. His debt isn't from being irresponsible, but from student loans and living expenses during college since he couldn't work. I have done everything without handing him money to help him out. I pay 100% of the mortgage, utilities and internet. I owned the house before I met him, so I figured I'm not our any money because my utilities barely went up. I also took a second mortgage out on the house to consolidate his debt from 10%+ to 4% interest rates. He's paying a few extra hundred a month towards his bills but it's still taking forever to payoff and I have a hard time watching him live paycheck to paycheck. He still has $46,000 left.
Here's where it gets complicated. We want to have kids right away, but he also wants to have his debt paid off/down first. I can afford to help him pay off his debt now, but I also pay for all of the maintenance, upgrades, and decor around the house. Just this year, I've spent $12,000 on updating our kitchen, replacing windows and carpet, our honeymoon and our one year wedding anniversary trip next month to the Cayman Islands. This spending isn't normal, we needed a lot of updates and maintenance this year, but basically everything is done now. This will also be our last nice trip for a long time since I'm going back to school. Most of my money is invested. $12,000 is in the bank, but I have that set aside for a furnace and AC that could go out any minute. I have extra money each month, but that usually goes towards maxing my Roth and now I've decided to also go back to school starting next month. My tuition will be about $3,000 per year part-time for 4 years (planning on paying as I go), and then $56,000 for 28 month med-school program where I won't be able to work at all (taking out a loan but my income will double/triple so I'll pay it off in a year or two easily.
My worry is, we'll be living off only his income for 28 months with kids. Do I take my extra money each month and pay off his debt or put it away for when I'm not able to work during med school to cover my loss of income? Sorry again this is long. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
Here's where it gets complicated. We want to have kids right away, but he also wants to have his debt paid off/down first. I can afford to help him pay off his debt now, but I also pay for all of the maintenance, upgrades, and decor around the house. Just this year, I've spent $12,000 on updating our kitchen, replacing windows and carpet, our honeymoon and our one year wedding anniversary trip next month to the Cayman Islands. This spending isn't normal, we needed a lot of updates and maintenance this year, but basically everything is done now. This will also be our last nice trip for a long time since I'm going back to school. Most of my money is invested. $12,000 is in the bank, but I have that set aside for a furnace and AC that could go out any minute. I have extra money each month, but that usually goes towards maxing my Roth and now I've decided to also go back to school starting next month. My tuition will be about $3,000 per year part-time for 4 years (planning on paying as I go), and then $56,000 for 28 month med-school program where I won't be able to work at all (taking out a loan but my income will double/triple so I'll pay it off in a year or two easily.
My worry is, we'll be living off only his income for 28 months with kids. Do I take my extra money each month and pay off his debt or put it away for when I'm not able to work during med school to cover my loss of income? Sorry again this is long. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
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