Financial Infidelity: How Much Do You Know About Your Partner's Finances?

Although 72 percent of couples participating in Fidelity Investments 2015 Couples Retirement Study say they communicate exceptionally or very well with their partner about financial matters, 43 percent—up from 27 percent in 2013—couldn’t correctly identify how much money their partner makes. Furthermore, 10 percent were off by $25,000 or more.

If so many couples can’t get this basic item in their financial lives right, what other disconnects exist that might cause cracks in their financial foundations?

Financial Infidelity Is On the Rise

One could be that financial infidelity is on the rise. A January 2014 online survey conducted for the National Endowment for Financial Education found that 33 percent of adults with combined finances admitted to having hidden a purchase, bank account, statement, bill,or cash from their significant other, up from 31 percent in 2011. Thirteen percent of respondents said they’d committed more severe deceptions, such as lying about the amount of debt that they owe or how much they earn.

Spotting the Stress Points

The Fidelity study identified a number of other points of critical misunderstanding:

• 36 percent of couples disagreed on the amount of the household’s investable assets.

• 47 percent disagreed on the amount they needed to save to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement. This level of disagreement is highest among baby boomers, who are closest to retirement.

• 33 percent disagree about how comfortable their retirement lifestyle will be.

Building a Strong Financial Foundation

How can you and your partner get on the same page? Start by taking this interactive quiz that helps couples learn more about their financial personalities. Then set aside time to discuss these questions with your partner:

• What are our next big goals and how can we work to achieve them?

• What is your vision of what retirement might look like?

• What is the size of our emergency fund and how can it be accessed?

• Are we prepared for the unexpected? Do we each have signed copy of a will, durable power of attorney, and health care proxy? Where are these documents located?

Act now to identify and deal with financial issues so you have a strong safety net for the future.

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