Nearly Half of Couples Maintain Separate Bank Accounts

Financial discussions are important for relationships, but a new study reveals that many couples prefer to keep certain matters separate. Research from Varo Money found that 45% of people in a relationship maintain separate bank accounts from their partner.

Many of the respondents said they had a joint bank account for their relationship, but 23% of joint accountholders had separate personal accounts. Moreover, nearly 20% of respondents said they had a secret bank account or credit card that their significant other did not know about.

Money secrets can be a deal-breaker in many situations. A study two years ago revealed that 31% of adults in relationships consider financial infidelity worse than cheating, and 27% also said they had separate bank accounts to avoid fighting about money.

Couples with money secrets are 11 times more likely to break up, but that doesn’t mean you have to discuss every purchase with your spouse. Varo Money discovered that 81% of adults do not want to run every purchase by their partner, but 37% will if it exceeds a certain amount. A  Policygenius survey found 37% of adults are only willing to spend up to $100 without telling their partner.