Spouse Income Secrets: Do You Know Your Partner's Income?

Do You Know Your Partner's Income?

What's Your Spouse's Salary? Disturbing Couples' Trend

Everyone knows love and money can be a potent combination. Many couples that spoke with Ruth to the Rescue agree honesty is the best policy.

"I'm very uncomfortable with any kind of secrets in a relationship," said Linda Novak of Franklin.

"I think money is a big factor in making or breaking or determining  how successful a relationship is," said Ron Bajorek of Beverly Hills.

That's why many people are surprised to hear the results of some new research. According to a new Fidelity survey, 43 percent of people cannot correctly identify the salary range their spouse falls into. In some cases, some survey participants were off by $25-thousand.

"That explains why the divorce rate is 50 percent," said Amy Knill of Clawson.

"Why are couples who say they communicate well ...and almost 3 quarters of couple said 'We communicate well '.... but yet they didn't know what their partner made," said John Sweeney, the Executive Vice-President for Retirement and Investment at Fidelity.

He said both men and women were equally wrong about the income of their spouse. He also said being wrong about your spouse's income can have serious consequences for the future.

"Whether it's young couples trying to save for a home or pay for a child's education or whether it's older couples thinking about entering retirement, you want to make sure they are aligned," he said.

Another report by Haven Life Insurance found something even more disturbing. One in five people admitted to hiding financial information from their significant other.

"I think running a marriage is like running a business," said Linda Novak of Franklin.

If you have doubts about the level of information you have, experts say it's time to have an honest accounting of each partners income, expenses, and debts.

"We don't have any secrets with each other. What I make and he makes is all in one pot and we work together and collaborate," said Mara Filo of Beverly Hills.

"We're a second marriage, we both learned from our first marriage that communication is the most important thing," said Novak.

Better Money Management for Couples

Here are some things to thing about if you're worried about the role of money in your relationship.

1.  In an ideal world, you need to come clean about your financial status and history before you tie the knot. In some cases, you might have that conversation before you start living together. Whenever you start sharing expenses and major financial decisions, you should know exactly what your partner is bringing to the table.

2.  Offer your partner full financial disclosure, don't hide anything.

3.  Couples should list all their assets and liabilities, as well as major anticipated expenses like graduate school or a new car.

4.  Couples may bring different budgeting tactics to a marriage, but setting up a good old-fashioned spreadsheet can really help both of you focus on juggling your expenses, income, and goal.

5.  Define shared goals. Planning a vacation is probably a vague idea. One partner may be thinking 5-star hotels and the other backpacking through Europe.

Be open and honest about expectations, so you can avoid surprises down the line.

6.  Take advantage of tax benefits.

7.  Respect each other's money skills.

8.  Support each other through ups and downs.

9.  Don't give up on communication, even in a separation.

10.  Use flexibility in Social Security and employer benefits.

11.  Perform regular financial checkups.

12.  Work together to build a fund for emergencies.

13.  Talk about how your bank accounts can be set up. You can have one joint account, or have a triple-bucket system. That system would have one joint account for joint expenses, and each spouse also keeps their own individual accounts.

14.  Don't forget to save for retirement and set clear goals for what kind of retirement you're hoping to enjoy.