My FICO logo $$$$$$$$$$$ 9876 5432 1234 5678 CREDIT CARD KELLY SMITH 11/26 My FICO logo
SCORE
Skip Navigation
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Start Plan
 
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  •  
  • Education
    • Credit Education
    • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Scores Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
    • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
    • Blog
    • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
    • Know Your Rights
    • Identity Theft
    • FAQ
    • Glossary
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • How Can We Help
    • Monitor Credit & Identity
    • Mortgages
    • Credit Cards
    • Auto Loans
  • Credit Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • Credit Education
  • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Score Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
  • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
  • Blog
  • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
  • Know Your Rights
  • Identity Theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary
View all Personal Finance articles

Romance and Financial Compatibility: Questions to Think About

June 19, 2018, by Tom Quinn

As summer is finally upon us, the wedding season is heating up. In fact, around 80% of weddings take place between May and October according to Priceonomics.

It's easy to get singularly caught up in the planning of the big day. But most relationship counselors will tell you that the topic of personal finances is one of the most common factors of stress for couples. Moreover, a wedding is usually a major expense so it's not surprising that this event can strain a relationship. Therefore, it's really important that couples take the time to frequently talk about their budgeting, investing, spending and credit goals and objectives __ before and after __ getting married.

I know ... sounds really romantic, right? Perhaps we can help. We recently conducted a survey of married people to get insights into the financial habits and compatibility within their relationships.1

So why not grab a bottle of wine and use these insights as a starting point for your financial conversation?

financial compatibility

Romance and Financial Compatibility

Studies show that couples who are financially compatible (have similar personal finance goals & behaviors) are more likely to have a successful relationship. Over 43% of the survey responders indicate they are very or extremely financially compatible with their spouse. On the flip side, a sizable number, 32%, responded that they are only somewhat or not really compatible at all.

A failure to communicate doesn't appear to be an issue with the survey responders as over 44% indicate they discuss money, budget and credit topics frequently. An additional 44% indicate it's communicated at least periodically. Your financial situation and objectives are likely to change over time so frequent dialogue can help make sure you and your spouse remain aligned.

Have you ever purchased something, but then hid it from your partner?

Over 50% of responders indicate that their spouse's spending behaviors are in alignment with their own. However, almost 20% indicate they are not in alignment or that they have no idea of their spouse's spending habits.

In terms of shared versus individual accounts, the majority of responders have a joint checking account with their spouse and of those that have a mortgage or auto loan, the majority are where both spouses are on the loan. This dynamic changes with credit card and investment accounts where the responders are more likely to have these as individual accounts. We also observed that having joint accounts was more likely with older responders.

42% of responders indicate that they are better at planning and managing personal finances compared to their spouse ( it would be interesting to see if their spouse agrees! ), while a third of responders indicate they and their spouse are equally adept.

Do you pay your bills as soon as they are received, while your partner tends to wait until the last minute or is periodically late? Do you pay your credit card balances in full, while your partner only pays the minimum amount due?

Alignment with your partner regarding the use of and access to credit is really important, given the role credit and credit scores play in our daily lives. 75% of responders indicate they know their own FICO Scores, with the majority reporting their FICO Scores being 740 or greater. Responders are less likely, however, to know their spouse's FICO Scores - close to 40% indicating they did not know.

Knowing and understanding how lenders see both you and your partner's credit risk is critical as it allows couples to better prepare for future credit needs and increase their access to more affordable credit.

1 Findings shared based on a survey of 500 married people conducted by FICO.

Tom Quinn

Tom Quinn is the Vice President of Business Development for myFICO and has over 25 years of experience working with consumers, regulators, and lenders regarding credit related questions and initiatives.

Estimate your FICO Score range

Answer 10 easy questions to get a free estimate of your FICO Score range

740 - 790
Estimate for Free

Instant Access to Your FICO® Score

90% of Top Lenders Use FICO® Scores. Do you know yours?

Get Access Now!

Page footer

Products

  • Home
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing

Learn

  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Blog

Company

  • About Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Program
  • Accessibility

Get Our App

  • Download iOS app on the App Store
  • fil_get
    Get Android app on the Google Play Store

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Credit Education

  • Credit scores
  • What is a FICO Score?
  • FICO Score versions
  • How scores are calculated
  • Payment history
  • Amount of debt
  • Length of credit history
  • Credit mix
  • New credit
  • Credit reports
  • What's in your report
  • Bureaus
  • Inquiries
  • Errors on your report?
  • Calculators
  • Know your rights
  • Identity theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary

Copyright ©2001- Fair Isaac Corporation. All rights reserved.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

All FICO® Score products made available on myFICO.com include a FICO® Score 8, and may include additional FICO® Score versions. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than the versions you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more

FICO, myFICO, Score Watch, The score lenders use, and The Score That Matters are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation. Equifax Credit Report is a trademark of Equifax, Inc. and its affiliated companies. Many factors affect your FICO Scores and the interest rates you may receive. Fair Isaac is not a credit repair organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Fair Isaac does not provide "credit repair" services or advice or assistance regarding "rebuilding" or "improving" your credit record, credit history or credit rating. FTC's website on credit.

PRIVACY NOTICE: When you visit this website we collect your browsing activities on our site and use that information to analyze and research improvements to the website, and to our products and services. When you register for our products and services, we also collect certain personal information from you for identification purposes, such as your name, address, email address, telephone number, social security number, IP address, and date of birth. Further information is available in our FICO Data Privacy Policy. For visitors with visual disabilities, access to this website, including our FICO Data Privacy Policy, is available through assistive technologies, such as BrowseAloud, JAWS, VoiceOver, Narrator, ChromeVox, and Window-Eyes. More details on software and accessibility are available at WebAIM.org.