Sitting back thinking how can I make my dream come true? Who would be willing to join-in? I cannot ask just anyone; the other party is pretty picky and I need someone who they will desire. Hum, let me go through my cell phone contacts and see who I think I can muster the gall to ask. What if they say "no"? I don't know if I can face rejection. What if they tell people how desperate I really am? Well, it not like what I'm asking is really weird; lots of people have done this and maintained great relationships afterwards.

What is the above referencing? A financial threesome! Co-signing! I'm trying to get my dream car but the bank says I must find someone to come into our agreement; this is also known as co-signing. The only way for me and the lender to enter into a relationship is for me to bring someone else also. Now, they have standards. They want the person I bring to be more desirable financially and credit worthy than me. Therefore, they want them to have a low DTI and a descent credit score.

After doing some research I begin to understand that co-signing is about as risky as a threesome. I am literally asking someone to come to bed with me financially. Whatever I do in this transaction will affect them either negatively or positively today and for as long as the account is open. If I’m late, then they are late. If I max up the charge card it will negatively affect my credit score, but it will also affect them the same way. In addition my new payment will also be considered in their debt-to-income ratio. This means they are now a higher risk than they were before they co-signed.

I also found out the only reason I need a co-signer is because I am a risk the bank is not willing to take on unless someone is willing to offset their risk. The bank is a professional lender. They assess peoples risk professionally. If they don’t want to enter into an agreement with me then why would someone else be willing?

Finally, before I asked anyone to co-sign I had to take everything into consideration. Let's see:

1. I’m a high risk so the bank will not give me a loan independently
2. They will only give me a loan if I get someone to off set their risk
3. The co-signer has nothing to gain but everything to loose
4. They will have a higher DTI ratio making them a higher risk
5. If I miss a payment or use my credit card past 25% of the balance it will affect their credit negatively
6. I may always feel indebted to them because they helped me out
7. If things do not go as planned it could negatively affect our relationship

Looking over this list I no longer think it’s a good idea to ask someone to co-sign even if it is going to defer my dream come true. Co-signing is truly a threesome that could ruin credit, DTI ratios, and even relationships. Taking everything into consideration this is too much risk to ask anyone I care about to commit. I will work on my credit and finances a little more. When I qualify independently it is then that I can afford my purchase.