- 55% of people say they manage short term finances, like paying the bills and saving for a holiday, between them and their partner.
- More than half take a share of the responsibility for longer-term planning like investments and pensions too (51%).
- 36% men say they manage the long term alone, compared to 23% of women.
- 36% of men say they deal with short-term finances alone, compared to 29% of women.
- Only 8% of men and women say they leave the short-term finances to their partner.
- Only 8% of men and 9% of women leave the long-term entirely to their other half.
- 8% of couples say nobody looks after the long-term finances in their relationship.
Figures from a survey of 2,000 people by Opinium for HL in April 2025.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“Couples do better when they work together, so it’s brilliant news that more than half manage their money as a couple – rather than landing one of them with the heavy lifting. However, this still leaves an enormous number of people shouldering the burden alone – or washing their hands of their own finances altogether.
Women are slightly more likely to fall foul of this, with fewer saying they take on the responsibility of managing their money and slightly more saying they leave things to their other half.
There are weaknesses among every age group. Although younger people (aged 18-34) are the most likely to plan together – both for the short term (58%) and the long term (57%), they’re also more likely to say they leave short-term finances to their partner – at 12% in both cases. Fewer of them are taking personal ownership of their finances, which should ring alarm bells.
The squeezed middle (aged 35-54) are the least likely to share responsibility for the finances. Only 51% plan for the short-term together and 46% do so for the long term. This may owe something to the fact that the gender pay gap starts widening at this age, and in some cases one of the couple will have stopped work or cut back their hours for caring responsibilities. With unequal finances, they may decide to leave some things up to the highest earner.
They’re also the most likely to say nobody is planning for the long term in their relationship (10% compared to 8% overall).
Meanwhile, older people (aged 55 and over) are the most likely to say they deal with the finances on their own – both the short term (36%) and the long term (34%). They ‘re also the least likely to say they leave it to their partner (4% for both short and long term). The imbalance in these answers means in lots of couples, both will feel they’re pulling more than their fair share of the weight financially. This could come down to them being unaware of the costs the other faces, or a different definition of managing the finances – where a higher earner might assume this means paying for things while the lower earner might assume it’s the one who does the legwork of making sure the bills are paid.
Potential problems
Leaving everything up to one person may feel like a sensible approach because, as with any other household chore, you can leave it to the one who likes the job more or is better at it. It may seem like a good way for the less engaged partner to avoid dealing with financial issues, but it could backfire horribly. There’s the risk that the money manager over the short-term makes a mistake, or builds up problems that they don’t feel they can share. The couple may be facing debts that only one of them has any idea about.
Over the long term, one partner may be prioritising their own plans for the future, and not discussing it, which could mean the other falls well short of the retirement they want, or ends up dependent on their partner. And while some couples are happy to manage money this way, others want the independence of money of their own throughout their life.
Even if the person who is in charge does a perfect job for both of you, if one of you hands over all financial responsibilities to the other, you need to think about what you’d do if you suddenly found yourself on your own. It might feel like a lot of work to get up to speed, but it’s up to both of you to strike a balance that stands you in good stead for the future.
It is worth making the effort. The HL Savings & Resilience Barometer found that those who work together are in a far better financial position. They have £351 left at the end of the month – £32 more than those who plan on their own and £92 more than those who leave things to their partner. Plus they have £3,196 in savings accounts – more than twice as much as those who plan alone. The fact they’re both planning for life’s milestones means they’re more likely to be on track with home ownership (42% compared to 34% who say they go it alone and 32% who leave it to a partner).
Of course, there’s only one thing worse than one of you losing touch with your finances, and that’s if both of you do. One of the most alarming findings of the research was that 8% of people say nobody in their relationship is planning for the long term. It may feel like you’re getting by, especially if you’re automatically put in a pension at work. However, unless you’ve actively planned how much you need in retirement, and are working towards it, there’s a real risk you’re falling short. Only around one in three people are on track for a moderate retirement income, so there’s a real danger in living in the dark and hoping for the best.”
Checking whether you are on top of your joint finances
If you don’t know the answer to these questions, or where to find the answer, you may need to reconnect with your joint finances.
- Where are your bank accounts held?
- How much debt does your partner have?
- Does your income exceed your outgoings?
- How much savings do you have?
- Are you on track with pensions as a couple?
If you don’t know the answer to any of these questions, there’s a chance to make more of your money:
- What are your monthly debt repayments?
- How much interest are you making on your savings?
- How much do you need to save for retirement?
- Where are your pensions invested?
- What investments do you have outside your pensions?
