Your partner's financial status is your business. And while money is the most sensitive topic of conversation, according to a poll conducted last year for Bank of Montreal - ahead of religion, politics and even weight - it's one that has to be discussed as soon as you enter into a serious relationship.
It won't be easy, but here are tips to make the conversation as painless as possible:
Choose a comfortable setting. If you live together, think of the place where you both feel most relaxed outside of the bedroom (it's too easy to fall asleep or find other, more, ahem, enjoyable things to do).
Agree on a time. It isn't wise to initiate the conversation after your partner unexpectedly comes home with a big-screen TV - or a shoe sale with bags in hand, as the case may be - and you're livid. Make sure that you're both in a good place when you start the discussion.
Remember that you're on the same side. Don't get defensive or point fingers. Look to the future, and what you can each do now, rather than on what's happened in the past. You must also be willing to make the changes necessary to address concerns your partner has and to improve your finances.
Stay positive. Focus on what you are both doing right and how you can get to your goals even faster by working together. Identify each other's strengths and use those to figure out how to divvy up financial responsibilities. The "shopaholic" can still do all the shopping to scratch that itch, for example, but with an agreed-upon spending plan.
Keep the conversation going. Checking in with one another and staying the course while moving toward common goals is easier when done together. Plus, financial success is so much sweeter when shared.
Angela Self is one of the founders of the Smart Cookies money group. Read her weekly column on managing debt and saving money on the personal finance site of globeinvestor.com.