Broke Millennial Calls for Full Financial Nudity

Have you achieved full-frontal financial nudity? Going “full-frontal” with your finances is the act of baring all your financial information, behaviors, and goals to a loved one.

“The reason you need to get financially naked with each other is to ensure that you’re financially compatible,” explained author and personal finance advisor Erin Lowry. “I’m not saying, by any means, that debt should be a deal-breaker, but there are certain behaviors that could indicate a problem in your future together, and that needs to be made clear sooner rather than later.”

According to Lowry, being financially naked has two different levels. The 101 level entails asking who pays for dates, gifts etc. The 201 level entails deciding whether you can marry, or spend the rest of your life with a person based on their financial circumstances — like their debts and their assets.

Lowry’s personal favorite way to start getting financially naked is asking your partner simple questions like what’s a financial goal they have for the next five years. Once they let you know, you can then start figuring out what is in the way of them completing it, which is sure to lead to a little financial transparency.