For many couples, money is one of the deepest emotional touchpoints, and also one of the easiest places for secrecy and mistrust to grow.
Hiding financial information from your partner, whether it’s how much you owe, how much you spend, or even what accounts you have, isn’t just a small secret. It’s something experts now call financial infidelity.
It could be something as common as a purchase you don’t mention to your partner or as huge as hiding significant liabilities or debt.
A man recently turned to netizens for advice when he discovered that his fiancé was hiding a massive debt of over $110K.
Her dishonesty, which continued for years, left him questioning their marriage plans.
A man said his fiancée had hidden a huge amount of debt from him
Image credits: Wavebreak Media / freepik (not the actual photo)
He said he really doesn’t care about the money, but the lies
She intended to keep the debt a secret until after their wedding
Image credits: Karolina Grabowska / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: efurorstudio-1 / freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: ThrowRA80k
Hidden spending, undisclosed debt, and secret credit cards quietly strain relationships
You might assume everyone talks about money before getting into a serious relationship, but that’s not always the case.
Recent data reveals that 2 in 5 US adults (40%) who are in long-term relationships have committed financial infidelity against their current partner.
In the UK, about 17% say a partner has lied about debt, and 31% have a credit card their partner doesn’t know about.
Money matters, in general, are hard to talk about. And they become even more difficult when one person thinks they’ve mismanaged money or used it in a way that their partner might not like.
Whether you hide a small purchase or a major debt, the effect can be similar — it can break trust and raise doubts about the future of a relationship.
“Money secrets can undermine a relationship. It’s hard enough to meet your financial goals when you’re pulling in the same direction. It’s almost impossible if you’re pulling in opposite directions,” says Ted Rossman, Bankrate senior industry analyst.
Nearly 45% of Americans surveyed believe that keeping financial secrets is as bad as physical infidelity.
Financial decisions affect more than the wallet in a relationship
Money represents safety and the future. It represents the house you might buy, the children you might have, and the holidays you dream about. When that foundation feels shaky, the whole relationship can start to wobble.
Sometimes, hiding money can also be a way to control the relationship. When one person keeps important financial information to themselves, they’re essentially making big decisions alone. That can shift the balance of power and leave the other partner in the dark about choices that affect both of them.
But the reasons people hide money problems aren’t always malicious.
It can also just be poor communication around money, embarrassment, or driven by other lies and humiliations, such as gambling or other habits.
“As adults, problems with managing money can make you feel less than, and worried about what people will think of you,” says Beverly Harzog, credit card expert and columnist.
Today, many households also have both partners working and earning. Couples often keep separate bank accounts, have different income streams, or even juggle multiple jobs. All of this makes it easy for financial details to slip through the cracks.
And as money is being managed digitally, recognizing and proving financial infidelity can be even more difficult.
Money doesn’t have to be such a huge issue in a relationship, but it does require communication and trust.
“We do all make mistakes. Hopefully, this person is important to you. At least put in the effort to see if you can come back from that,” says Harzog.
In the end, it’s often not just about the money — it’s about what the money represents in a relationship.
In this case, the man wasn’t only reacting to the amount owed. What unsettled him more was the idea of depending on someone who had kept a major secret for three years. The fact that she had planned to reveal it only after they were married made it harder for him to separate the financial issue from the breach of trust.
Money conversations are not romantic. They involve spreadsheets, bank apps, and awkward admissions. But they’re also acts of intimacy, a way of letting someone fully into your life.
Many people in the comments supported the man’s decision
Some even shared similar experiences and stories
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