NEW YORK–What are the biggest causes of fights by couples over money? A new survey of nearly 1,000 Gen Zers and millennials who are married, engaged or in a relationship has found nearly three-fourths said they’d been mad at their partner because of a financial decision they made, while 15% hadn’t yet discussed debt with their partner.
Among the key findings in the survey conducted by MagnifyMoney.com
- Surprise purchases and frivolous spending top list of financial decisions that anger millennial and Gen Z couples
- 3 in 10 millennial and Gen Z couples cite different views on money as hardest financial challenge in relationship
- Nearly 6 in 10 millennial and Gen Z couples are saving for a house, while just about half are saving for a baby
- 15% of millennial and Gen Z couples don’t talk debt, including 7% who have chosen so intentionally
- Nearly 1 in 4 married millennials and Gen Zers keep separate bank accounts
Other Findings
The survey further found:
- Nearly one-in-seven (15%) Gen Z and millennial couples haven’t discussed debt, a figure that jumps to nearly a third (32%) for those who don’t live together. Even 8% of married couples have never talked about debt, MagnifyMoney.com found.
- Nearly a quarter (24%) of married Gen Z and millennials still keep separate bank accounts. An additional 19% have a joint account in addition to their separate accounts. This could be one reason why more than a third (36%) of young couples say they use a service like Venmo or Cash App to pay their partner at least once a week, MagnifyMoney.com said.
- Those who earned between $50,000 and $74,999 were the most likely (84%) to have been mad at their partner for a financial decision. Conversely, just 16% of that income group said they never felt that way, compared with a range of 22% to 35% in the other brackets.
- “Interestingly, older millennials (ages 33 to 40) were most likely to report hiding debt as the financial decision that made them mad at their partner (11%), versus 6% of younger millennials (25 to 32) and 8% of Gen Zers (18 to 24),” MagnifyMoney.com said.