‘Crucial’: Mortgage trend no one should try
There’s a popular new trend taking off online, but there’s a very grim reason no one should be laughing.
COMMENT
There’s a mortgage trend currently sweeping social media, and it is the last thing we should be joking about.
Here’s how it goes: the woman tells her boyfriend or husband that she can’t pay the rent or the mortgage for the month, and hilarity is meant to ensue.
The joke is meant to be that the partner is baffled because he always pays the mortgage alone and the woman doesn’t know anything about it. Get it?
If you’re not laughing, neither am I, but the trend has racked up millions of views and thousands of comments and it has entered the zeitgeist.
I don’t think it matters who pays the mortgage or how much one person contributes over the other; in a relationship, that stuff should become irrelevant if it is an arrangement both parties have agreed on and are happy with.
There’s also nothing concerning about a couple having a traditional set-up where the bloke earns more and pays the mortgage, and the woman’s money and resources go towards other things.
What is completely freaky is the idea that so many of these women who have jumped on the mortgage trend online are joking that they know nothing about their mortgage and have nothing to do with it.
Both people in a relationship should be financially literate and across their joint expenditures. Just because you don’t pay the mortgage doesn’t mean you should treat it like a neighbour you’ve been avoiding because they always comment on how you park your car.
The idea that women in 2024 are making light of the fact that they have no grasp over their overall financial situation is bloody grim.
In one video, a woman tells her partner she won’t be able to pay the mortgage this month, and him, without looking up from his phone, replies, “You don’t pay it anyway. She captioned the clip “unbothered king”, that video alone amassed over 400,000 views.
Similarly, when a US influencer told her husband she wouldn’t be able to pay the mortgage this month he smiled and replied, “What?”, clearly unbothered by her statement. She then she captioned the clip, “I actually have no idea who our mortgage is with,”.
That clip has 900,000 views.
When a US influencer, who goes by The Blonde Brewer online, jumped on the trend and told her husband, “I don’t think I’m going to be able to pay the mortgage this month”, he barely looks up from his phone. He then bites back, asking: “Do you even know what a mortgage is?”
The husband then starts peppering her with questions: “What is the interest percentage of our mortgage?”, “Who is our mortgage with?”
The influencer doesn’t know the answers, and her husband points out that she’s never “worried” about the mortgage before.
“You just worry about taking care of me, and I’ll take care of you,” he says.
Interestingly, the response to that clip wasn’t negative.
In fact, a lot of people thought the husband’s behaviour was attractive and the fact that the influencer knew nothing about her mortgage was a win.
“Does he have a brother?” someone joked.
“My wife has never made a mortgage payment and never will,” another bragged.
“I need a man like that,” someone else wrote.
However, there were some who weren’t as impressed with the video.
“Why is so condescending?” one asked.
“I love that he takes care of the bills but you really should know who the lender is and where your papers are,” another advised.
Financial expert Julian Finch said that he is amazed that “mortgages have become entertaining” in 2024.
Mr Finch said the trend has stunned him because, in general, he’d say “women are more across mortgages” than men.
“I find women are very specific about their mortgages and are across them in detail,” he told news.com.au.
Mr Finch said that it is “imperative” and “crucial” that everyone who has a mortgage is aware of all the details.
The financial adviser said it is important to understand your own finances and stay on top of them.
Even if your partner is the one on salary who pays the mortgage, that doesn’t mean you should be in the dark about the details.
“It is a life skill that everyone should have and it is even more important than learning to drive a car,” he said.
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Mr Finch said that even though it can be a bit dull, “making yourself understand” your mortgage is non-negotiable as an adult.
He said this is true for a number of reasons. First, you’re “signing a contract, so you need to know what you’re doing”, and second, relationships break down all the time.
“Even in the last 12 months for me in this business I’ve dealt with people that got divorced and had to find ways to sell or buy out their ex-partner. It is important,” he said.
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