Checking a partner’s credit score used to be something people joked about before a third date. Now it’s closer to standard practice. According to TD Bank’s 2026 Love & Money Survey, which polled 2,000 adults, 46% of Americans say someone’s debt or financial habits would influence whether they pursue a serious relationship with them—and Millennials (51%) and Gen Z (49%) are more likely to say so than Gen X or Baby Boomers (39% each).
That reversal runs counter to the usual assumption that younger generations are more relaxed, more collaborative, and less judgmental about money than their parents were. Ashley Weeks, a wealth strategist at TD Bank who works directly with clients on the survey’s findings, said the shift reflects economic conditions rather than a change in values.
“There’s a pretty big divide between Gen X and Boomer responses versus Millennials and Gen Z,” Weeks told Fortune. “What we take from that is likely these are just a response to the existing stimuli that are out there in the economic space.” That includes things like student debt, inflation, and housing costs that have made personal finance inseparable from other parts of younger people’s lives, including who they choose to date.
