Nearly 80 percent would walk away over a partner's hidden debt
More than half of Canadians want to keep a partner out of their bank account.
A survey from personal finance platform MooseMoney found 57 percent prefer to keep their money completely separate (18.8 percent) or mostly separate (38.2 percent) from a significant other.
Respondents also rated opening a joint account as a bigger commitment than moving in together, according to the survey, with 54 percent taking that view.
The same poll found 18 percent would not open a joint account under any circumstances.
The most common arrangement, cited by 38.2 percent, keeps personal accounts alongside a single joint account for shared household bills.
Another 25.4 percent combine everything, 18.8 percent keep their money entirely separate, and 17.6 percent run everything through a joint account while splitting their credit cards.
Couples tend to wait for a legal or financial milestone before merging.
Marriage was the most common trigger at 34.5 percent, while 20.5 percent wait until they buy property together and 15.8 percent merge when they move in.
When partners earn different salaries, pooling all income into one pot was the top choice at 43.9 percent.
A further 33.9 percent favour a proportional split based on earnings, 17.7 percent insist on a strict 50/50 split regardless of income, and 4.5 percent would rely on a single provider.
Nearly a quarter of respondents, 23.7 percent, said they had felt pressured to spend beyond their means to keep pace with a higher-earning partner.
Hidden accounts are not rare.
In the survey, 21 percent of women and 14 percent of men said they keep or have kept a secret bank account or credit card.
For some, a financial betrayal stings more than a romantic one.
The survey found 39 percent of women and 29 percent of men would be more devastated to learn a partner had run up a large secret debt than to discover infidelity.
Secret debt can also end a relationship outright.
A total of 78 percent of respondents said they would consider leaving a partner who had hidden more than $500,000 in debt.
Tolerance varied widely, with 11.4 percent saying a secret debt of $1,000 or less would be enough to make them consider leaving, and 21.8 percent saying hidden debt was not a dealbreaker.
“These findings show that financial transparency is just as critical to a relationship as physical faithfulness,” said MooseMoney founder Julien Brault.
