<prompt> Human: Hey everyone, thanks for any advice or information you can provide. I dont have a ton of knowledge about some of this and it has been difficult trying to sort through it on my own.My girlfriend and I have been together for close to 5 years; although we are not engaged yet we will be soon assuming she doesnt turn me down haha, but complicating the situation are our student loans. I graduated a few years ago and have managed to get my loans down to a reasonable amount of 14k. Thats made up of several small loans that have interest rates from 4-6.My girlfriend however is in a much tighter spot and is looking at 91k, with some of the loans making up that total having 10-11 interest. The smart thing to do here would be to pay off those first, but up until now I have just focused on my own and havent been helping her. We have been together for awhile at this point but havent really combined our lives financially, and I think both of us have been putting off talking about it or assessing the situation.We had a long talk the other night and came to the conclusion that we are both in it for the long haul and need to work together. My question comes about the best way to make this happen. As mentioned we are not engaged right now, but I would like to start paying off her loans next month. Is that a wise thing to do if we arent married, or should we get married first? My guess is that if I pay money down on her loans, I cant claim that on taxes at the end of the year, is that right? I guess Im just not sure what the smartest play is here, getting married first and then paying her loans, or paying her loans and waiting to get married. Complicating this issue is the fact that she would like to have a wedding costing several thousand dollars which I dont think we can afford right now, meaning if we should get married first it may result in her sacrificing some things. Just trying to find the best solution.The good news is that we both have decent jobs so I think if we committed ourselves to paying htis down we could be in a much better spot in a few years I make 46kyear and she makes 37kyear. Again thanks for any advice.  <response>: As mentioned we are not engaged right now, but I would like to start paying off her loans next month. Is that a wise thing to do if we arent married, or should we get married first? Debts existing before marriage remain separate after marriage. You should concentrate on your debts before helping hers. She needs to focus on her debts before helping you. After marriage is a different story. I recommend keeping finances separate such as individual checkingsaving accounts but you two may open and share a joint checking account for the purposes of paying bills. You both need to insure yourselves that in case of fall out that you are both protected from financial ruin. Complicating this issue is the fact that she would like to have a wedding costing several thousand dollars which I dont think we can afford right now, meaning if we should get married first it may result in her sacrificing some things. Get a civil union or court-house marriage if you two wish to marry asap. You both can always budget and save for a nice ceremony and honeymoon down the line. Your combined debts would be 105,000. An expensive wedding is simply not an option at this point. 