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How Do Affluent Couples Deal With Money? | November 15, 2010 (0 comments)
Mountain View, CA—Do more couples throw all their money into a common pot, or do more prefer to keep separate “yours, mine, ours” accounts? How do your affluent customers handle money, especially when it comes to big purchases?
According to data from the financial website mint.com, 48% of young professional couples (under age 30, HHI $50K+) are likely to keep their money separate, compared with only 37% of affluent (HHI $100K+) couples. Both of these figures are higher than the 34% of the general population that does.
In Mint’s survey, $395 is the threshold price at which affluent couples say they feel the need to consult their partner before making a purchase. That price comes down to $249 for young professionals, and is $275 for the general population.
66% of all couples surveyed pool resources and expenses; 34% divide the bills equally every month.
Discussions about household finance are most likely to turn into arguments among young professionals (72% said so), least likely among affluents (44% said so) or the general population (45%).
15% of affluent couples say they have individual checking and/or savings accounts, but 49% have individual retirement accounts. By contrast, 25% of young professional couples have an individual checking account, 28% have an individual savings account, and 50% an IRA.
Financial immaturity or cultural shift? In almost every category, Gen-Y (aka Millennial) couples are more likely to say they’ve hidden purchases from their partner, misrepresented the amount of a purchase, bought something their partner doesn’t agree with, or were not forthcoming about their credit score. They tied with young professional couples in the area of not disclosing debt or having a secret account or credit card. (Editor’s note: according to Mint’s age breakdown for this survey, young professionals and Gen-Y will overlap.)
Both affluents and Baby Boomers were least likely to be cagey about their credit scores, while Boomers were least likely to lie about the cost of an item or keep their debt secret.