Six financial signs your relationship is headed to the next level

There’s a lot of pressure surrounding Valentine’s Day. For couples who celebrate this commercial holiday, it’s an opportune time to show just how much you love each other.

Sure, that can be demonstrated by way of chocolates, flowers and other gifts, but it can also be demonstrated by achieving certain financial milestones together.  

So, how will you know if they really love you? Here are six financial signs your relationship is headed somewhere serious.

1. You added your partner to your car insurance policy

Well, well, well. Look at you two. Hopping onto the same car insurance policy is a big step in any relationship. It means you’re going places together — literally. When you add someone to your policy as a secondary driver, they can drive your car whenever they like and be insured while they do it.

A vehicle is no small asset to share with another person — especially because adding a secondary driver tends to raise your insurance premium. If your partner has added you to their policy, consider it a sign that you mean something really special to them and that the two of you are moving to the next level.

2. You reveal your debts and salaries to each other

The topic of money doesn’t often come up on the first date, let alone within the first year for some couples. So if you’ve finally had “the talk” and have given each other an idea of what debts you’re still working on paying off, as well as your incomes, consider yourself in the serious stage of a relationship. It takes guts to come clean about your finances and put it all on the table. Rest assured that if you’ve made it to this point in your relationship, you’re on solid ground.

3. You opened a joint chequing or savings account

While lots of couples opt to keep their finances separate and go on to live happily ever after, there’s something about the decision to combine finances that screams: “We’re not planning on breaking up any time soon!”

There’s no set time that combining finances should happen in a relationship, nor is there a set way to go about it. But when it does happen, you can be sure it means you’re entering a pretty serious phase of partnership.

Having a joint chequing account that you use for paying bills, for instance, signals a deep level of trust, since you’re giving your partner access to your hard-earned dollars. On the flipside, maybe you’re not interested in having a shared chequing/expense account, but want a shared savings account for a vacation way in the future, or a down payment on a home. Great! This has long-term commitment written all over it, as the two of you are working toward a shared goal. And what’s more romantic than that?

4. You added your partner as an authorized user on your credit card

A major indicator of trust in a relationship is whether or not you feel comfortable giving someone else access to your credit. Some couples don’t want to make things so official that they apply for a joint credit card with both their names on it, but a first step in that direction is when one partner requests an additional card from their bank and makes the other an authorized user. Make no mistake: the original cardholder is still solely responsible for all the debt the authorized user racks up. But that’s why this is a move you can feel positively about, especially if you’ve become the authorized user. That means your partner trusts you at least as much as their credit limit allows.

5. You bought a house together and got a joint home insurance policy

Buying your first home together is a huge step. Not only does it mean you’re going to live together in a place that you own, but it also means you’re co-signing a mortgage together. That’s a big sum of money to be responsible for, so you can be sure your relationship is headed somewhere legit. Similarly, when you secure a home insurance policy, you’re both on the hook for the premium. Congrats on the decision to not only buy a home together, but to agree to collectively protect it and your contents.

6. You purchased life insurance policies to protect each other

This might be one of the more telling signs that you and your partner are in it for the long haul. Life insurance is designed to pay out after the policyholder dies. If you made each other the beneficiaries of your respective policies, that means you’ll inherit the value of your partner’s policy should they die.

Life insurance can help pay off existing debts, funeral expenses, and even cover lost wages if you’re unable to work due to injury or illness. Losing a loved one is not easy, and it can be made even more difficult when there’s a financial burden to bear. If you’ve taken out life insurance policies so the other person can have some peace of mind when you pass, that’s a sure sign your relationship is advancing.