- Couples who plan together have an average of £328 left at the end of the month – £28 more than those where the one person plans alone and £101 more than those who leave it to their partner.
- Couples planning together have £3,145 in savings accounts – almost twice as much as those where one person goes it alone, and almost ten times as much as those whose partner does it all.
- Couples working together are more likely to be on track with home ownership (44% compared to 36% who say they go it alone and 32% who leave it to a partner).
- They also have more in their combined pensions – at an average of £181,717 – compared to those who plan alone at £112,881 and those who leave it to their partner at £125,309.
Figures from the HL Savings & Resilience Barometer, September 2025.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“Financial planning is going to be a tough sell for a romantic Valentines Day. However, while it may not be as traditional as overpaying for a set meal in an overcrowded restaurant, getting together over a romantic candle-lit spreadsheet could be one of the most rewarding things you do together this side of the tax year end.
The HL Savings & Resilience Barometer found that those who work together are in a much better financial position overall when it comes to everything, from how much cash they have at the end of the month to savings. They’re also more likely to be on track with life milestones, like home ownership, and to have much more in their combined pensions.
Planning retirement together is the ultimate long-term commitment and can make a huge difference to what you end up with. Talking through what you want your retirement to look like, and how you can get there together, means you are both working towards the same goal. If you leave it solely in the hands of your partner, you may be in line for a nasty shock at retirement when you realise what they’ve saved will not give you the lifestyle you had hoped for.
It’s not just that they’re in a better position financially, planning together also means couples are able to take advantage of key tax breaks. At this time of year, working together can save you a significant chunk of tax. If you’re married or in a civil partnership, you can share assets between you and double the amount of money you can make before the taxman takes a slice. It means you can both make use of your dividend allowance and capital gains tax allowance this side of the tax year – and again from 6 April.
Because you can pass assets between spouses without triggering a tax bill, if one of you makes the lion’s share of the income, you can still both take advantage of your ISA allowances this year – and again at the start of the new tax year, so you can protect £80,000 between you in the next few months. It also means you can take full advantage of both your pension allowances before the end of the tax year, and again once 6 April rolls around.
Financial advisers say their clients often visit as a couple to get advice together. It can be a great way of finding the right plans to suit you both, especially when you struggle to come to an agreement on your own. To get the ball rolling, there are some sensible questions to ask each other.
- Do we want to run all our finances together, or just some aspects of it?
- How do we feel about how we split our costs?
- Do either of us have obligations to ex partners and children to consider?
- What are the most important things for us to have in life as we go along?
- What things are important enough to save for? And how much do we need?
- What have we put aside so far?
- How equal are our savings and investments, and does it matter?
- What are we prepared to sacrifice to hit these key financial goals?
- Do we share the same plans around having a family?
- Do we have the same home ownership goals?
- Do we want the same things from retirement?
- When do we want to retire?
- If one of us has a larger pension, are we comfortable with that?
- Will there be any financial issues when one of us (eventually) dies?
- Are we happy to pass assets to one another to save tax?”
