You and Your Partner’s Life Changing Money Secrets

​​​You might think you know all about your partner – what their favourite food is, who their friends are, what social media accounts they can’t tear themselves away from…but do you know who their bank is, or who their pension is with?

More than one in four couples – that’s 10 million people! – in Britain don’t know who their partner banks, saves or invests with.

And the stats get worse…

Stats are even worse for pensions. If you’re married there’s a 20% chance you don’t know any details about your partner’s workplace pension, but if you’re an unmarried couple that rises to 32%.

And this all leads to problems with finances. And it might not be what you expect.

What to be aware of

You see, if something happens to you or your partner, not knowing basic details about their financial life, such as what bank or building society they are with, can make it even more stressful for you, or them, to get money matters in order. Could you find the details to claim their pension if they suddenly died? It could lead to a very scary situation.

How to make it better

Relationships are built on trust and understanding, so if you’re not open with your partner about money, it can make things difficult. It can seriously dent the trust you have in one another. After all, with 13% of people having savings their partner doesn’t know about, and another 18% having secret debt, getting things out in the open can benefit both of you.

Sharing your views on what you both think your money is for and how it is best used lets you decide together what’s best for both of you. That way the money you do have is used in a way you’re both happy with.

Creating a short document with the basic details of accounts and pensions, like the names of banks and building societies, can save a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, waiting and worry should one of you get seriously ill, hurt or even die.

Here are a few things you can do to share your ideas:

• Talk to your partner about your views on money, and what you think it’s for.
• If your partner does something with money you’re not happy about, question them, but try to attack them – it’s much more about understanding the decision than someone being right or wrong. Try questions like ‘could you tell me about…?’ or ‘I would prefer it if…’
• Make a couple of easy rules for when you go out or spend money, like who pays for what. How is the money split? Maybe one of you earns more, or you can take it in turns?

If you would like to talk about any of the issues in this article or need more general help with your finances, please get in touch with us.