MARKHAM - Your eyes locked together in a crowded room. You fell in love soon after. Met the folks. Moved in together. A ring was bought. Talk of wedding dates, caterers, dresses, honeymoon destinations. Oh, but you can't afford all that because the ring is still being paid off, or your credit card has been decommissioned since that last Yorkville shopping spree?
And you're behind on utility payments, you still owe a friend $1,000 from last year, and you think saving for retirement is over-rated and useless?
"Happily ever after" may be a little further away in the future than you thought. A recent Valentine's Day poll suggests that 77% of Canadians say they won't walk down the aisle with someone who has bad money management skills, or has a lot of debt.
It's not like money mis-managers will be lonely for the rest of their lives. 29% of those currently or recently in a committed relationship said they'd still date someone who can't balance a chequebook, they just won't marry them.
That may be the start of a new breed called "friends with no financial benefits".
Then again, there is the 37% that won't even date a walking financial disaster, and there is the 11% that were recently in a relationship with someone like that, and won't be traveling down that road again.
It's not that we're uncomfortable or embarrassed about talking about money. For most Canadians (actually, 9 out of 10 of us), we will gladly talk about money.
We just tell white lies here and there about our spending habits.
21% of Canadians have told their partner that something cost less than what they actually paid for it, and 13% have hidden a new purchase from the other half.
Joint personal finances? Sure, but to a point. Canadians will buy and share a home together (72%) before they'll share a joint bank account (68%), or a joint financial plan (64%), or a joint credit card (52%), or even contribute to each other's RRSPs (43%).
Still, one-third say they are keeping their money completely separate from their partner's.
Maybe it's the time of year, or maybe Canadians are deep-down romantics and believers in true love, after all.
Would they consider a pre-nup before walking down the aisle?
A resounding 82% said "For better or for worse".
That means 'NO!'
