Money may not buy you love, but talking about it may lead to a happier relationship.
That’s the finding of a new study from TD Bank, which finds that couples who chat about their finances regularly are happier than those who discuss it less frequently. About 78 percent of those who discuss finances weekly say they are happy, compared to 50 percent of those who talk about money just a few times per year.
Of course, it’s possible that unhappy couples just aren’t talking at all, but experts say that regularly discussing money is an important part of a healthy relationship. Regular talks may also make it less likely that partners will keep financial secrets from each other; 10 percent of couples surveyed admitted to having a money-related secret.
Related: What Your Finances Say About Your Relationship
Nearly half of those who had a financial secret said that they had a bank account their partner didn’t know about, 37 percent had significant undisclosed debt, and about a third hadn’t shared their poor credit score with their partner. Millennials are the most likely to keep financial secrets, with 22 percent saying they’re keeping something from their partner, compared to 11 percent of Gen Xers and just 4 percent of Boomers.
Source: TD Bank Love and Money Survey 2016
Most secret-keepers (85 percent) plan to come clean at some point, with 48 percent vowing to share their full financial picture with their partner in the next year, and nearly 30 percent planning to do so in the next five years.
They might want to start sooner. One in 10 of those surveyed said that they would end a relationship if they discovered that their partner had a financial secret.
