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| Couples Say Not All Is Fair In Love and Money |
| Alan Kopit, lawyers.com Legal Editor |
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Money may not buy love but handling money the right way could improve a relationship. That's one finding of a survey that looked at spending habits of couples in committed relationships.
The survey found that nearly a quarter of U.S. adults age 25 to 55 who are in a committed relationship say honesty about finances is more important than honesty about fidelity and 72 percent say trust is essential to a successful romance. However, nearly one-third (29 percent) of couples say they have been dishonest with their partner about spending habits.
He Said, She Said According to the Harris Interactive ® survey - sponsored by REDBOOK magazine and lawyers.com women are more likely to be the ones keeping money matters from their partners (33 percent of women vs. 26 percent of men). It may be easier for women to hide extra purchases or overdue bills because they are more likely to be in charge of the household budget (41 percent of women are responsible for the household budget vs. 21 percent of men).
Valuable Advice "Couples need to establish a financial plan and have open communication about their financial situation," said attorney Alan Kopit, lawyers.com's legal editor. "Many couples find talking with an objective professional - such as an attorney or accountant - is a great way to start having honest financial discussions, which is the first step to ensuring a couple is on solid financial footing." Kopit says one partner's hidden spending can ultimately lead to credit problems that affect both partners. Without complete financial disclosure, it can be difficult for couples to create effective long-term financial plans.
Worth Talking About When cash concerns cause arguments for couples, it's usually over purchases for themselves (50 percent), the general household budget (45 percent), credit card debt (32 percent) or spending on their children, such as clothing and toys (26 percent). "Women are earning more than ever but our poll shows that major family money decisions still tend to fall to men," said Alison Brower, REDBOOK's executive editor. "So women are contributing in greater amounts, yet they may not have an equal voice. Over time, this can breed resentment and lead to secrets and lies that can sabotage couples emotionally and financially."
Alan Kopit is the legal editor of lawyers.com and partner at the Cleveland-based law firm Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP. He has contributed columns to lawyers.com, focusing on consumer and small business legal issues and his media appearances include MSNBC, CNBC, CNNfn, Bloomberg Television, WEWS-TV Cleveland (ABC), WKYC-TV Cleveland (NBC), WKBC-TV Houston (NBC), Bloomberg Radio, and legal contributor to NBC-TV's Today show. For more information about Alan Kopit, please see his biography.
Harris Interactive® conducted the online survey on behalf of Redbook and LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell's lawyers.com between July 29 - August 11, 2005 among 1,796 U.S. adults aged 25-55 who are in a committed relationship (that is, they are currently married, engaged or living with a partner). The data were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. adult population aged 25-55 in a committed relationship on the basis of age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity, region, and propensity to be online. In theory, with probability samples of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population aged 25-55 who are in a committed relationship had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling error for the various sub-samples is higher and varies. This online sample is not a probability sample.
LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell's lawyers.com is the leading lawyer directory on the Web, providing access to more than 440,000 attorneys and law firms nationwide. More than one million searches per month are conducted at lawyers.com by consumers and business people in search of the right lawyer for their needs. |
