More than 4 in 5 Americans believe couples should share a budget
To gauge how couples navigate financial independence, disputes, and shared responsibilities, WalletHub conducted a nationally representative online survey. View report findings and infographics here.
Financial dynamics play a crucial role in relationships, from choosing a suitable partner to deciding who pays for what, allocating money to long-term goals, and everything in between.
Disagreements about money can easily sink a relationship, even before it really gets going, while a symbiotic financial relationship can produce results far beyond the sum of its parts.
Key Stats:
- Prenup Approval Runs High: 3 in 4 Americans believe a prenup is good for a relationship.
- Not-So-Joint Finances: More than 1 in 4 Americans have a financial account that their partner doesn’t know about.
- Sharing Can Lead to Swearing: Nearly 1 in 3 people believe that sharing a financial account leads to more money problems rather than preventing them.
- The Real Relationship Killer: 72% of Americans believe that financial disagreements are worse for a relationship than political disagreements.
- Money Skills Make You More Attractive: 80% of people say poor financial literacy is a turn-off in a partner.
- Budgeting as a Couple: More than 4 in 5 Americans believe couples should share a budget.
“Couples often fail to consider their financial compatibility until it’s too late. While things like political views may come up on the first few dates, 72% of Americans actually believe that financial disagreements are worse for a relationship than political disagreements, according to a new WalletHub survey. That’s saying a lot considering the current political climate, and you don’t want to get all the way to a marriage proposal only to discover you have very different views on prenuptial agreements, for example. Three in four Americans think a prenup is wise, but there’s no guarantee both you and your partner are in that group. Singles looking for love also need to up their money game, seeing as 80% of people say poor financial literacy is a turn-off.”
– Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst
Full Survey & Responses
| How many financial accounts do you share with your partner? | |
|---|---|
| Some accounts | 47% |
| All accounts | 32% |
| None | 21% |
| Is your relationship limiting your financial growth? | |
| No | 75% |
| Yes | 25% |
| Sharing a financial account… | |
| Helps prevent money problems | 68% |
| Causes more money problems | 32% |
| Do you have a financial account that your partner doesn’t know about? | |
| No | 74% |
| Yes | 26% |
| What is worse for a relationship: financial disagreements or political disagreements? | |
| Financial disagreements | 72% |
| Political disagreements | 28% |
| What is more expensive: being in a relationship or being single? | |
| Being in a relationship | 64% |
| Being single | 36% |
| Is poor financial literacy a turn-off? | |
| Yes | 80% |
| No | 20% |
| Should couples share a budget? | |
| Yes | 84% |
| No | 16% |
| Is your partner a good financial role model? | |
| Yes | 70% |
| No | 30% |
| Is a prenup good or bad for a relationship? | |
| Good | 75% |
| Bad | 25% |
Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
Survey Methodology
This report reflects the results of a nationally representative online survey of over 200 respondents.
After we collected all responses, we normalized the data by gender and age so the sample would reflect U.S. demographics.
Leave a Reply