Gen Zers and millennials are rewriting financial rules and opting for separate accounts, says survey

Gen Z people are growing with different experiences and goals in life. Many are focused more on their ambitions and careers than on relationships. Bankrate’s survey on financial secrets reports that the new generation perceives financial infidelity to be worse than physical infidelity and there has been more leverage given to financial independence. With this in mind, many new couples are opting to have independent financial accounts rather than joint ones. As per the survey,63 percent of Gen Zers who are in live-in or married have committed financial infidelity against their partner. 

WYMT shares the opinions of bank analyst Ted Rossman. He mentioned that when it comes to completely combining or separating financial accounts, GenZ couples “fall somewhere in the middle.” Rossman further added, “I think yours, mine and ours approach works well for a lot of people.” Elaborating on the same, he said, “You have some money that’s yours and yours alone. A lot of people like that independence. But then you also have money that’s shared for household goals. I think that’s important, too.”

The survey reveals that the idea of maintaining separate bank accounts is only growing among Gen Zers and millennials as 43 and 31 percent of these generations follow the new money rule compared to Gen Xers (19 percent) and boomers (18 percent). It also states that only 26 percent of Gen Zers and 33 percent of millennials agree to combine their finances with their partners.

The bank analyst reveals that the idea of having separate accounts is connected to the need to have room for personal expenses and spending. Rossman shared that the former idea is pretty genuine, given the lifestyles and other factors. However, the goal is to ensure that both partners are moving in the same direction.

“Try to check in about your finances at least every few weeks. It’s great if you can get to a place where you’re pulling in the same direction toward something you both want, whether that’s a bucket list vacation, buying a house, retiring early, saving for your kid’s college education or something else,” he suggested. Another survey by Bankrate further adds new financial rules couples are now playing by. The majority of these rules have to do with each partner maintaining part of their income separately for themselves. 

It also reveals that this financial infidelity refers to anything from creating a new account to purchasing more than the knowledge of one’s spouse. Other rules include delaying milestone events like marriage due to financial discussions and decisions. It even mentions sharing details such as credit scores and being somewhat transparent with financial details with the person one is dating. While these new rules have their pros, there are cons as well. A major one is issues between partners, given the financial infidelity.

Rossman adds his input to the matter, saying, “My best advice is to communicate early and often about money. Start small, maybe by setting a timer for 10 or 15 minutes and chatting briefly about upcoming bills and money that’s coming for the month.” However, Rossman also points out that discussing money matters is not always easy. “You need to flex those figurative muscles first. Most people aren’t particularly comfortable discussing money matters, so you need to build up to it gradually, similar to an exercise program,” he concludes.