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Whenever Kim, a salaryman, thinks of the girlfriend he broke up with two years ago, he breathes a sigh of relief. She was pretty and financially independent as a teacher at a crammer. He was serious about her -- at least until he happened to read her text messages while she was in the toilet one day. One was from her bank, a final warning to repay W500,000 (US$1=W930) by the first of next month or risk being blacklisted as a defaulter. Kim began to watch her carefully and discovered that she was hopelessly addicted to shopping, known as a shoeholic among her friends. That was the death knell for their romance.
Today¡¯s young lovers check the financial and credit situation and shopping habits of their potential partners as thoroughly as their health. Matchmaking companies often get requests form their male customers to introduce women with sound wealth building strategies. If women are too young, customers ask matchmakers to check the investment competence of their mothers instead. A consultant with dating agency DUO says women are interested in men¡¯s jobs, while men want to know how interested women are in prudent investment and whether they are shopaholics. Indeed, some female customers don¡¯t give their real name for fear that men could try to track their credit record. Here, DUO and Samsung Securities offer tips for finding a financially sound partner in an era when young people are more likely to dream of becoming civil servants than space explorers.
¡ßSwap digital signature certificates
A good way to check the financial health of your lovers is to exchange digital signature certificates as you might exchange medical checkup results. That allows the other to access all financial records, including the amount of income, savings and credit card payments. That way, you¡¯ll know before it is too late if your intended is using one credit card to pay off another.
¡ßCheck credit card spending
You should check how much money is withdrawn to pay credit card bills at a time. Men tend to spend a lot of money on drink and women in department stores. For example, watch out if your lover habitually spends more than W1 million on drink a month, a DUO consultant advises.
¡ß Check the size of debts
Experts say that around 30 percent of your assets is the appropriate size of debt. Even if you borrow money to start your own business or buy a house, you should not pay more than 30 percent of your annual income in interest. If not, you¡¯re on the high road to financial trouble.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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