SoFi Blog

Far and away, money issues are the leading cause of stress in relationships. It makes sense when you consider that nearly 13 million Americans withhold financial information—including bank accounts and credit cards—from the people they love.

Obviously, that’s not exactly a healthy way to engage in a relationship. That’s why, instead of allowing money issues to balloon into financial infidelity, or to become even a minor source of tension between you and your partner, it’s important to talk about how the two of you plan to manage your money as a couple.

SoFi members Jennifer Nichols and Anthony Latta learned over time what it takes to successfully combine their individual financial lives with that of their partner’s through trial-and-error in their own relationships. Here’s their advice for merging money in a relationship, from what works well to what definitely doesn’t.

A preponderance of solid economic data has sent equity markets higher as they brush aside the political risk stemming from a chaotic new administration. Focus has shifted back towards the Federal Reserve and the outlook for monetary policy after several weeks in which expectations of tax cuts and infrastructure spending captivated markets. We continue to like a globally diversified equity portfolio and short duration fixed income.

Six-figure annual income. Dozens of high-profile clients. Paid speaking gigs. Trade media attention. When it comes to freelance writing, I’ve been a poster child for success. I often tell people that I’ve never held a real job, and it’s true; I’ve been slinging copy just like this post since the day I graduated college in 1997.

Money has never been a challenge for me. I’m not independently wealthy or anything. I just work my butt off. Generally speaking, I average about 55 articles of 300 words or more each month. Every year I pull in about 30 different 1099s.

Because the majority of my work is travel writing, I incur some pretty significant expenses. Most years, I’m able to manage that debt just fine. The year 2015, however, was a doozy.

In this installment of our Two Sides series, two SoFi members pick an end of the spectrum—on one, using a single card, and on the other, using multiple cards. They explain their reasons why, and the advantages of each.

In our latest member spotlight, we catch up with travel nurse Sophia Khawly and learn more about her adventurous career path. Sophia not only travels the world through her work in healthcare (jealous!), but was also able to conquer $52K in nursing school debt after refinancing with SoFi.