Financial infidelity—it’s a thing, and probably symptomatic of larger marital strife.
CreditCards.com is out with a survey about who’s hiding what, and finds Millennials are the worst (or best, depending on point-of-view) at secretly squirreling away monetary resources.
The website notes that 19 percent of U.S. adults who are in live-in relationships are hiding a checking, savings or credit card account from their partner.
That equates to 29 million cheaters.
“And 20 percent of all survey respondents feel a partner hiding a secret bank account from them would be worse than physically cheating,” staff reporter Barri Segal notes.
Here are the key findings:
Millennials are the sneakiest (What? No!)
“Twenty-eight percent of millennials in live-in relationships admitted to currently hiding an account from their spouse or partner. This group is almost twice as likely to “cheat” as those who are older (28 percent versus 15 percent).”
Other more common offenders are those living in the South (22 percent) and West (21 percent), compared to those in the Northeast (16 percent) and Midwest (12 percent).
A secret account is rarely a homewrecker
“Just 2 percent who are married or living with a partner would end their relationship over $5,000 in secret credit card debt,” Segal writes. “But 16 percent said they wouldn’t care much or at all about their partner hiding $5,000 in card debt, and 81 percent would be upset but wouldn’t end the relationship. Lower middle-class households would take this news the hardest – 9 percent in the $30,000-$49,999 income bracket would end the relationship.”
There’s a gender gap in money management confidence
“Forty-four percent of those who are living with a romantic partner believe they’re better money managers than their partners and just 12 percent think they’re worse. Men were more likely to say they’re better at it than their partners, and women were more likely to say they’re worse.”