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FrontRow · Aug 10, 2026

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Married student loan holders — and those soon tying the knot — face important tax and financial decisions, especially after recent changes to the federal lending system. The U.S. Department of Education's new Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP, increases the "marriage penalty" for borrowers, said Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner and the president of Bone Fide Wealth in New York. A marriage penalty typically occurs when a married couple pays more in income taxes by filing jointly than they would if each person filed as single. When it comes to student loans, this happens when combining both spouses' incomes results in a higher monthly student loan bill under an Income-Driven Repayment plan, or IDR. "Marriage can change their monthly payment immediately and dramatically, even if their own income hasn't changed at all," said Boneparth, a member of CNBC's Financial Advisor Council.

Married student loan holders — and those soon tying the knot — face important tax and financial decisions, especially after recent changes to the federal lending system. The U.S. Department of Education's new Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP, increases the "marriage penalty" for borrowers, said Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner and the president of Bone Fide Wealth in New York. A marriage penalty typically occurs when a married couple pays more in income taxes by filing jointly than they would if each person filed as single. When it comes to student loans, this happens when combining both spouses' incomes results in a higher monthly student loan bill under an Income-Driven Repayment plan, or IDR. "Marriage can change their monthly payment immediately and dramatically, even if their own income hasn't changed at all," said Boneparth, a member of CNBC's Financial Advisor Council.

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