Is my partner lying about money? You’d be surprised how many are!
A lot of British people would never ask someone about their personal finances because we’re raised to think it’s rude. In fact, according to a recent survey, 29% of Brits never discuss their partner’s financial situation with them. But, it’s definitely something you should be doing.
How many people are lying about money?
The survey of 500 people, which was commissioned by Luma, also found that over a third of British people have discovered a nasty financial surprise about their partner after embarking on a relationship together. The most common being that your partner is in debt (29.17%), however the fact they’re unemployed (13.89%), have County Court judgements (12.85%) or have been bankrupt (4.51%) are also quite common.
What’s the impact of lying about money?
Mike Naylor, a personal finance expert, believes that the survey highlights a worrying trend. People clearly don’t realise the impact their partner’s personal finances can have on their own life.
“Very worryingly over a third of people (36%) don’t realise that they could be turned down for a joint mortgage, joint bank account or loan, pay a higher interest rate on borrowing, or could risk losing their home because of their partner’s poor credit history,” he says.
“Putting the effect of falling in love to one side, it is perhaps this lack of knowledge that explains how people can get into a serious relationship without asking any questions about their new partner’s finances.”
Should I talk to my partner about money?
This may be a very British attitude, because in other countries, financial issues are taken a lot more seriously. A recent survey that was carried out in the United States found that almost half of respondents talk to their potential partner about their credit score. In the UK, you don’t usually discover your credit score until you’re actually applying for a loan.
Do you know what your own credit score is, let alone your partner’s?
With that in mind, Naylor urges “anyone entering into a serious relationship to talk to their partner about their finances early to avoid nasty financial surprises later on.”
To see a summary of the survey results, take a look at the graphic below:
I’m always amazed how many of my friends and family pull the “lie of omission” when it comes to finances. Put on your grown up pants and fess up! My husband and I keep everything joint. If either of us wanted to lie about money, we wouldn’t be able to.
It’s so much better to be open about your finances than it is to lie. It would be interesting to dig deeper into the survey to see the percentages by “years with partner.” I would imagine people who have been with someone a year or less were more likely to have lied about their finances.
I know a lot of people who lie to their spouse about money. I feel fortunate that we have no reason to lie to one another. We’re pretty boring with our money.
I don’t really know that the US is much better. Honestly, the only reason I got into personal finance was from dating two guys in a row who were nuts about it. The first one constantly talked about money, but never asked me about my situation and the second one took a good year before we started to talk about it a little. Although it was kind of obvious that I was paying off student loans quite a while.
Very interesting stats. But I do have friends who lie to their spouses and partners about money. Thankfully my wife and I have joint accounts, and we each have access to them, so we can keep each other in check. Although, we don’t spend on much so there isn’t anything to lie about (not that we would).
One of my friends shared with me that she was lying about money from her husband. I don’t know what her reason for doing that, but for me you should be open to each other especially when it comes to money matter.
I’m not lying about money to my partner, and I don’t think my partner is either, but it’s definitely a HUGE problem!