Debt is now doing what personality clashes and bad first dates used to do: ending relationships before they start. TD Bank’s 2026 Love & Money Survey found that 46% of U.S. adults say a partner’s debt or financial habits would sway whether they pursue a serious relationship, and that share rises to 51% among millennials.
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TD Bank polled 2,000 U.S. adults between June 29 and July 13, 2026, through Talker Research. The generational breakdown shows 49% of Gen Z said the same, compared with 39% each for Gen X and Baby Boomers. Younger adults, who came of age carrying student loans and record rents, appear far less willing to take on someone else’s balance sheet along with their heart.
The same survey found 54% of respondents would now consider signing a prenuptial agreement, a notable shift for a document once reserved mostly for the wealthy or the previously divorced. Financial stability ranked as important in a serious relationship for 72% of respondents overall.
Yet money remains one of the hardest subjects for couples to actually discuss out loud. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they feel scared or embarrassed talking about finances with a partner, and 30% admitted to hiding purchases or financial decisions from them entirely. Sixty-eight percent said they feel pressure to appear more financially successful than they really are.
The pattern isn’t isolated to one poll. Fortune’s coverage of the same TD Bank data described a generational split in which younger daters are increasingly opting to stay single rather than take on a partner’s debt, a contrast with Gen X and Boomer respondents who said finances mattered less to their initial attraction. A separate TD survey of Canadian Gen Zers in 2025 found half wanted a prenup too, suggesting the appetite for financial guardrails in relationships isn’t limited to one country or one year of data.
Key Points
- 46% of Americans, and 51% of millennials, say a partner’s debt affects whether they’d pursue a serious relationship
- 54% would now consider signing a prenup
- 59% feel scared or embarrassed discussing money with a partner
“Financial education and planning may help people navigate these pressures and have more productive conversations,” Marc Womack, TD Bank’s head of client experience, strategy and governance, said in the survey release. Ashley Weeks, a wealth strategist at TD Wealth, added that “confidence can be strengthened from understanding your financial situation and making informed decisions.”
The findings land as courtship increasingly runs through the same filters people apply to a loan application, treating credit history less as a private detail and more as a relationship qualifier.
