<prompt> Human: Hello PersonalFinance,I have a friend an actual friend, not covering for myself who is getting married very soon. He is 30, has been living with his parents and saving since he started working years ago. His fiance has debt up to her eyeballs from school. Somehow he thinks its his responsibility to clear her debt. I want to warn him that this will be detrimental to him financially, but I dont know enough about the subject to intelligently dissuade him from doing this. Can someone explain to me how to tell him this sounds like a terrible idea? Maybe it isnt as bad as I think it is, and Id like to know that too.Related question - if Im planning to marry my girlfriend and she has debt, how might that affect me? Should I insist she clear her debt first, or is there a chance that we could add something to the prenuptials that protects me? Maybe Im worried about something that isnt such a big deal...  <response>: I dont think its a bad idea. It wouldnt make sense to me to have all kinds of money banked away while my spouse is paying off loans. Why would I want them wasting all kinds of money in interest that could instead go towards paying for things that benefit us as a couple? Savings for a house? A vacation? Our retirement? Unless my money could be bringing in more than the interest on their loans, I dont see the problem. To me, it sounds like you are looking at it from the perspective of His money and Her money and that your friend is looking at their finances as Our money. I say whatever a couple decides works best for them.As far as your girlfriend, her debts shouldnt really affect you unless the loanscredit cards are in your name too. But whatever debts she brings into the marriage would be her responsibility. 