Don't bank on marital candour

03 May 2016 - 09:18 By Bloomberg

For all the promises exchanged at the altar, people seldom tell new spouses what's going on in their bank accounts. As a result, 33% of newlyweds are surprised by a partner's financial situation and 36% don't know anything about the partner's spending habits, according to a survey of Americans by credit-tracking firm Experian.When asked what the maximum amount that they would spend without discussing it with their spouse would be, men replied, on average, $1259. Women said $383.Men were more likely to hide money from their spouse: about 20% had accounts their partners didn't know about, compared to 12% of women."It does make sense that men would more often keep financial details secret because I find that women disclose more to other people," said Michael Slepian, a researcher at Columbia Business School.Slepian said keeping information hidden can damage a relationship: "Revealing a secret might have bad consequences but holding off and revealing it later won't make things better."..

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