<prompt> Human: As the title suggests, this new information has come as a bit of a shock. For some background info: We are both 26 years old. We are located in middle America where the COL is really reasonable. We live together and have been dating for about 4 years. Lived together for most of that. I am in sales and make about 80k a year, own my own home 75k, on a 15 year mortgage, about 2.5 years into the mortgage have no student loan debt, a truck payment, 8 of my income going into a 401k employer match, I am saving money and making contributions to a mutual fund. I live within my means, have a 6 month emergency fund 10k keep my debt in check, and am very conscious of my credit score and financial responsibilities. I could probably be saving a bit more each month, but for the most part I am very comfortable where I am at financially. My girlfriend of 4 years basically just let slip that she is around 170k in student debt. I had absolutely no idea it was that bad. I assumed it was around 100k. She has a doctorate in a specialist field where she sees patients and works her butt off. She is only 1.5 years into her career and I think made about 45k in the first calendar year. I think she expects to possibly make about 55k this year her second calendar year. Her employer doesnt pay for health insurance, but he does match 3 into a 401k and she is investing another 5 of her own. She has not started paying her student loan payments yet and as I understand it will start in December where she has elected to payback using IBR. For the most part she is conscious about her money. I have helped her budget in the past and she doesnt live outside of her means either. She doesnt seem worried about it, but I am freaking out at that amount of money. Is it really as bad as it looks? How screwed am I if we get married? Do I need to protect my credit somehow? Do I get a prenupt? I have been thinking about buying her a ring and proposing, but this seems like it could ruin a lot of what Ive done for myself financially and it is scaring me away. I dont mean for this to be a rrelationships post, just looking for some advice on how to approach this. Any help is appreciated.  <response>: If you marry this person, you marry her debt. It may not matter if this is legally true; it is true in effect. You already have your mortgage and your vehicle, so access to credit may be less of an issue; but, as a unit, the two of you will be paying this debt off for decades.Marriage in the 21st century USA is, as the courts view it, an essentially financial contract - love doesnt enter into it. Indeed, plenty of people who love each other dont get married, and money has often to do with this decision.I wouldnt marry 170K in debt. I have enough problems. If you are seriously considering it, you ought to sit down, first with your girlfriend to find out the full scoop and what she is thinking; then separately with a family lawyer to find out what it means if you marry her and what a prenup can and cannot protect you from. 