Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring How One’S Primary Financial Conversant Varies By Marital Status, Megan Mccoy, Kenneth J. White, Xianyan Chen

Journal of Financial Therapy

Research has shown communication around finances is essential to relational satisfaction, yet often couples avoid these money talks. In this study, we examined how the financial discussions were impacted by marital status. The findings were surprising. Married people were the least likely to be engaging in money talks with their partner, all of the other participants (e.g., cohabitating, dating, separated) were all engaging their partners at much greater rates in money talks. However, married respondents were talking to their family members, friends, financial professionals, and other professionals about money. These different conversations were analyzed through the lens of social capital …