We’ve talked on this blog before about the major financial questions you should ask before you get married. But it seems, a lot of people are already asking those questions. And if they don’t get the answer they’re looking for, they’re not prepared to say “yes” when someone pops the really big question; or they just won’t ask it at all. This according to a Valentine’s Day poll performed by TD Bank, a poll that shows that 77% of Canadians won’t marry someone who’s bad with money. Well, TD is full of hopeless romantics, aren’t they? Kidding aside, there are some really interesting figures that have come out of this most recent survey.
While it doesn’t say how many Canadians were surveyed, all participants were either currently in, or recently in, serious committed relationships. 29% of those said that while they would date someone who was bad with money, while 37% said that they would date – but never marry – someone who wasn’t in charge of their own personal finances. And a bitter 11% said that they have done it, but that they would never do it again.
So that’s the way we feel as a majority. But is that enough to have some of us telling fibs about our personal finances?
Well, yes and no. While the survey also showed that nine out of ten Canadians are comfortable talking to their partner about money, it also showed that 21% of Canadians have said that something cost less than it did, whereas 13% have hidden purchases altogether, all so that their partner would not find out. But, this doesn’t mean that those not willing to marry someone bad with money won’t chip in for some pretty major purchases. In fact, looking at what Canadians will chip in for and what they won’t, is somewhat baffling.
While you might think that it’s the smaller purchases and investments that partners good with money would offer a little help with, in fact the opposite is true. Of those surveyed, a whopping 72% said that they were prepared to take on a mortgage with someone who was bad with money; while only 68% would open a joint bank account and only 43% would contribute to their partner’s RRSPs. Maybe that’s because in the case of a home, at least they get their home equity in exchange, while with other purchases/investments they’ll get nothing, or next to it? It’s hard to say.
But what’s not hard to say is that at the end of the day, we push finances aside and just love the one we’re with. That was made clear by the 82% of respondents that said that they wouldn’t get a prenuptial agreement. But then again, if you’re not marrying someone who’s bad with money, why would you ever need a prenup anyway?
