According to Forbes Magazine, "…over half of all [financially cheating spouses] admitted hiding cash (58%) or minor purchases (54%). Of the offenders, 30% have hidden a bill, 16% have hidden a major purchase, 15% had a secret bank account, 11% lied about their debts and another 11% lied about the amount of money they earned."
One of the biggest problems within a marriage is finances. For many couples, it is hard enough to make ends meet in today’s economy, but financial irresponsibility by one or both spouses easily can destroy a marriage.
Listed below are some red flags in determining whether financial cheating is going on in your own marriage.
- Does your spouse maintain all of the family finances and keep you in the dark about them?
- When you talk with your spouse about finances, does he/she become defensive and/or refuse to discuss the topic?
- Do you think your spouse is spending more money than the two of you can afford?
- Has your spouse lied to you before about your finances or how he/she spent money?
- Does your spouse lie to other people about your income and/or expenditures?
- Have you discovered secret bank accounts your spouse opened?
- Have you discovered debts your spouse created and didn’t tell you about?
- Have you or your spouse ever spent money as a revenge tactic against the other spouse?
- Do you have a “gut feeling” that your spouse is hiding something financially?
- Do you trust your spouse to deal honorably, honestly and above-board in financial dealings with you?
If you answered “yes” to any of these red-flag questions, then you may have a financial problem in your marriage. And, failure to address financial issues can have a major effect on the health of your marriage!
Next week’s blog: How to Handle Marital Financial Cheating