Ask Brianna: How can my partner and I meld our money habits?

[...] my partner is more spontaneous, and I remember feeling a flutter of anxiety early in our relationship when we went out to dinner twice in a single week.

Young adults are partnering up later, and we bring to our long-term relationships finely sculpted attitudes and approaches to money that can be hard to reshape.

Many of us now spend nearly a decade living independently, taking out student loans, using credit cards — often without a partner or spouse weighing in.

Here's how to talk about it, and how to help your partner move from spending to saving.

[...] work to understand where your partner is coming from.

Next, make a plan to discuss the issue "in a spirit of teamwork and non-judgment," says Katie Bossler, a Detroit-based financial wellness expert at nonprofit credit counseling agency GreenPath Financial Wellness.

Can we talk about setting up a savings plan so we're in a better position to go on a fun vacation?

Even if you're unsure whether your partner is The One, you also should factor in retirement savings.

According to a recent NerdWallet report, a third of survey respondents currently in a relationship weren't saving for retirement at all.

[...] sign up for that 401(k) or set up an individual retirement account.