Why millennials are getting prenups

What do Michael Jordan, Mark Zuckerberg, and Kim Kardashian have in common? Prenuptial agreements, or prenups, have been famously signed by a lot of the billionaires.

Prenups are a contract at their most basic level. Before getting married, two people list all of their assets and liabilities, and outline how they should be split. More people, especially young people, have signed prenups over the last decade.

A survey conducted by Harris Interactive found that only 3% of those who were married or engaged said they had signed a prenuptial agreement. When Harris ran the poll again this year, that number had climbed to 15%.

More Americans, but especially millennials, are getting prenups.

The Harris poll found that 40% of people between the ages of 18 and 34 who were married and engaged said they signed a prenup. Waters says that younger people have a more pragmatic approach to marriage as an economic contract.

There are the difficult economic circumstances in our country, especially around debt. Quentin Fottrell, MarketWatch managing editor for personal finances, said that debt is a concern for people getting married.

These are all good things to know before you get married, because you're going to have to open your bank accounts and you're going to have to share your financial statements about your credit card debts, your checking accounts, your savings accounts, and you're going to have to be transparent, Fottrell said on the podcast.

Prenups can be helpful for a lot of couples, but there are two issues they are expensive, and the process can take a while. That is why Massachusetts family law attorney Julia Rodgers co-founded HelloPrenup, a digital platform that allows couples to take the process online.

Rodgers said that working on the prenup collaboratively can help address other big money discussions that often plague relationships down the line, and can be a good space to address the financial concerns that women are more likely to face, like the motherhood penalty.