Personal Finance News
Survey: 84% of Couples Share at Least One Financial Account
A recent survey looked at how finances can impact romantic relationships (and vice versa).
About the Survey Results:
Who says that talk of love is strictly a February thing? Earlier this month, the personal finance site WalletHub published its Money & Relationships survey, looking at some of the challenges that exist when finances enter the romantic picture.
Starting with the less-than-good news, 30% of respondents stated that their relationship was limiting their financial growth. A similar number (27%) of those surveyed admitted that they have a financial account that their partner was unaware of. Meanwhile, asked if sharing financial accounts could lead to catching a partner cheating, respondents were perfectly split 50-50.
Turning to how couples manage their money together, 84% of those surveyed said that they shared at least one financial account with their partner. This figure includes one-quarter of respondents who report sharing all of their accounts with their significant other. Only 15% said they don’t share any. Of all respondents, three-quarters said that sharing accounts helps prevent money problems, although the other quarter said doing so actually causes more issues. Elsewhere, a whopping 94% of those surveyed said that couples should share a budget.
When asked how they handled financial disputes in their relationship, 83% said they worked together with their partner to find a solution. That result is compared to 13% who admitted to arguing about it and 3% who said they chose to ignore it.
Lastly, WalletHub found some interesting responses to intriguing questions. For example, 68% declared that it’s more expensive to be in a relationship than it is to be single. The survey also found that nearly three-quarters (73%) of those surveyed believe financial disagreements are worse for a relationship than politically-charged arguments. Finally, 79% said that poor financial literacy was a turn-off to them.
What They’re Saying:
WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said, “It’s a bad sign that more than 1 in 4 people are hiding a bank account from their partner and feeling like their relationship is holding them back financially. Whether it speaks more to the precarious state of the economy or flawed matchmaking is up for debate, but a healthy relationship shouldn’t have you looking over your shoulder or feeling like you’re attached to an anchor.”
Lupo added, “Couples don’t have to share access to every account, but transparency is always the best policy. Part of the problem may be that couples are hesitant to discuss financial issues, fearing that a big fight is around the corner.”
My Thoughts:
Looking at the results of this survey, I see a decent amount of myself in some of the responses. For one, while my wife and I do share several accounts, we did keep the solo accounts we had before getting married (and I’ve since opened many, many auxiliary accounts for review). I can also honestly say that my wife and I are good about working out solutions to money problems together rather than fighting about it or attempting to sweep it under the rug. These strategies have worked well for us, so hopefully the same is true for many of the respondents WalletHub spoke to.
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