A weekly thread to discuss financial matters - from personal all the way up to global.
Ground Rules
- Remember that we're all just Internet randos. Don't bet your life savings on a hot tip from this thread.
- Keep culture war in the culture war thread. Yes, global events may impact our personal finances, but that does not mean we have to incessantly harp on culture war aspects here. If you are going to discuss it, please stick to the practical impacts of it on an individual level.
- Be kind. Remember that everyone here comes from different circumstances. We all have different resources available and different risk tolerances.
- Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Better is better. Celebrate people when they take a step up and work to move their finances in the right direction. Don't flame out because they haven't followed what you consider the optimal path. Everybody has to start somewhere.

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Notes -
Ideally, I imagine you and your (to be) wife have to be on the same page in terms of goals. And if you're so entirely off base from each other, it's probably not a good idea to get entangled legally with that person. If you're a hermit that wants to live in spartan conditions, while your wife longs for instagrammable lifestyle, it was never bound to work. But if you're a stingy nerd that has a wardrobe of 5 identical t shirts and doesn't like leaving the house, while your wife prefers a hike on the weekends and 2 international trips a year, it would definitely be possible to find middle ground (because her expectations are pretty reasonable and you can definitely afford it). And for the income gap, how do you plan to divide up your finances once married if that's such a concern for you? I'm not married myself, but I know some couples with disproportionate income gaps and the usual set up is that her money is her money and your money is collective money. And it makes sense when one person is making $700k and the other is making $40k. Your income gap wouldn't be as dramatic, but I imagine this informal arrangement would still hold up in some form - expect to pay more for things, even for stuff you wouldn't buy yourself if you were on your own.
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