Why Couples Will Weather A Recession In Greater Financial Comfort

If a recession hits, people in a relationship think they will weather the downturn much better than their single counterparts, according to a new study by Personal Capital, an online financial advisor and personal wealth management company headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., with $10 billion in AUM.

Forty-nine percent of those in a relationship feel confident they can weather a downturn, while only 41% of single people feel the same, according to the survey of 1,005 people that compared attitudes about finances based on gender, generation and relationship status.

People in a relationship may have a sounder base to work from because they have been forced to explore and discuss their finances with another person, said Michelle Brownstein, vice president of private client services for Personal Capital.

“If people in a relationship make a financial plan, they may feel more obligated to stick to it because they are working with another person,” Brownstein said.

For the population as a whole, 46% would feel confident about their financial situation in the face of a market drop, which suggests most people are not prepared for the long run because a market drop is going to occur at some point, Brownstein said.

“Baby boomers also say they are more confident they can survive a downturn than millennials (born early 1980s until early 2000s) or Gen Xers (born 1964 to early 1980s) possibly because they have lived through more downturns,” she said.

The feelings permeate a number of issues, with men, people in relationships and baby boomers seeming to have a leg up on their counterparts when it comes to having confidence in their finances, Personal Capital said.

For example, men outpace women in saying they feel good about their understanding of their finances (62% of men and 52% of women). Sixty-six percent of baby boomers say they feel they have a good understanding of their finances compared with 44% of Gen Xers and 52% of millennials.

Likewise, when it comes to feeling good about their overall financial situation, 48% of respondents feel good about their financial picture. But men exceed the average, with 52% feeling positive about their financial picture, compared to just 45% of women.

Fifty-six percent of baby boomers feel good about their financial picture compared with 38% of Gen Xers and 43% of millennials. Forty-six percent of single respondents feel good about their overall financial picture compared to 50% of those in a relationship.