This story was submitted as part of our #modernfamily series. Follow along as couples share the good, bad and ugly on navigating love and money together.
If you'd like to submit your own story, you can do so here.
My partner and I have had an income differential our entire relationship. When we first started dating, I was making 3 times more than he did. Recently, my partner decided to go back to school and pursue a different career.
He felt like he was stagnated by his existing career and wanted an opportunity to earn a bigger income. He was really trying and I wanted to support his efforts. I told him I’d be willing to cover all of our shared expenses while he's in school. But I asked him to pay me back if we ever broke up within the next 10 years. I deeply believed we'd be together for a long time, so I didn't expect this issue to come up. I've been screwed by relationships before and I didn't want to be stuck if things didn't work out.
Things ended up getting complicated because he stayed in school longer than either of us had anticipated. He also ran out of emergency savings and had separate credit card debt that he had to cover. In the end, I spent a lot more money on our shared expenses than I'd expected to. Then it got even messier when he ran out of money to support himself which increased both our anxiety levels since I had to start covering his personal expenses too. Eventually he got a job to help cover expenses so that helped reduce both our stress.
I have to admit that it's been weird and awkward navigating all the twists and turns together: there was this expectation on his side that I'd continue covering things but this also went on for a lot longer than I expected. Each month took me further from my own financial goals so we had to constantly discuss and reset expectations which wasn't always fun. But even so, I'm really happy with the way things turned out. He's happier than he's ever been and has a career that he loves, earning good money while he does it. The whole experience taught us a lot about how we communicate about money together!
A newsletter designed to help
you achieve relationship goals.
A newsletter designed to help you achieve relationship goals.
To safely consume this site, we recommend reading this disclaimer. Any outbound links will take you away from Zeta, to external sites in the world wide web. Just so you know, Zeta doesn’t endorse any linked websites nor do we pay/bribe anyone to appear on here. Any reference to prices on the site are just estimates; actual prices are up to specific merchants and their current desire to charge you for things. Also, nothing on this website should be construed as investment advice. We’re here to share our favorite tools, tactics and tips for managing your money together. This content is for your responsible consumption. Please don’t see this as a recommendation to buy specific investments or go on a crypto-binge. Lastly, we 100% believe that personal finance is exactly that, personal. We may sometimes publish content on this website that has been created by affiliated or unaffiliated partners such as employees, advisors or writers. Unless we explicitly say so, these post do not necessarily represent the actual views or opinions of Zeta.
By using this website, you understand the content presented is provided for informational purposes only and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
1Zeta is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Piermont Bank; Member FDIC. All deposit accounts of the same ownership and/or vesting held at the issuing bank are combined and insured under an FDIC Certificate of $250,000 per depositor. The Zeta Mastercard® Debit Card is issued by Piermont Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated and can be used everywhere Mastercard is accepted.
2Zeta Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is effective as of 05/01/2023, for customers who qualify for VIP status. Minimum amount to open an account is $0.00. Minimum balance to earn the APY is $0.01. Interest rates are as follows: 2.43% APY applies to the entire balance for customers who qualify for VIP status. Interest rates may change after the account is opened. Fees may reduce earnings.