Hot-Button Financial Questions Couples Face in Retirement & Beyond

Most American couples say they trust their spouse or partner regarding financial matters. Yet a noticeable number reveal they aren’t necessarily in agreement over the fine print. Examples include how much money they’ll need for retirement, or leave to family, a recent survey found.

More than 1,500 couples in the U.S. (or 3,020 total respondents) with $100,000 or more in investable assets were surveyed in January for the Ameriprise Financial study. Primary survey respondents were between ages 45 to 70. They had either retired within the last decade or plan to retire in the next 10 years.

Of note, 95% of couples said they trust their partner regarding money matters. And 93% shared similar goals for retirement. Still, 24% of couples said they hadn’t come to an agreement on how much money they’ll need for retirement. Nor did they “how much they should spend on children and grandchildren, both today and as part of their estates,” an April release for the survey said.

Marguerita Cheng, CEO and founder of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, said that a common point of contention among couples is when they should give money to children or other family members as part of an inheritance.

“Sometimes, they might disagree about whether they should give money while they are alive, or do they wait,” she said.