271. "He hid $30K of debt a month before our wedding"

About this episode

Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich speaks with Sana and Arhem, both 27 and newly married. One month before their wedding, Arhem revealed that he had hidden $30,000 of credit card debt. After they both lost their jobs, Sana discovered that he had fallen even further into debt without telling her. Today, they earn $188,000 a year and have created an aggressive plan to tackle their $165,000 of total debt. But while their numbers are improving, the betrayal has fundamentally changed their relationship. Sana has become the financial orchestrator, while Arhem feels like a student trying to prove that he can be trusted again. In this episode we uncover: • Why Arhem hid $30,000 of credit card debt before their wedding • How Sana discovered that the debt had grown again • Why the financial betrayal nearly ended their relationship • How they are rebuilding trust after years of secrecy • Their professor-and-student dynamic with money • Why Sana feels responsible for supporting her entire family • How cultural expectations shape her financial decisions • Their $188,000 income and $165,000 of total debt • Why their highly organized financial system still feels joyless