Couples fess up to cheating financially in new study

A staggering new survey revealed that 40% of people who are married or living with a partner have committed financial infidelity, according to Bankrate.com.

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FOX Business' Lauren Simonetti took to the streets of New York City to ask everyday Americans about their relational spending habits, further exposing those committing financial cheating. 

Simonetti asked one woman if her spouse is aware of all of her spending, and she replied, "no," and said that she has made an effort to hide her overindulgence in Amazon spending.

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Conversely, one man said that he and his partner are on the same Amazon account – enabling him to see what he is shopping for and purchasing at all times. 

Another man pushed back on the entire concept of financial infidelity, saying there should be "total open communication in a relationship," and that financial secrets are "equal to other secrets."

Reinforcing his claim, more than half of survey responses told Bankrate.com that financial infidelity is equivalent to physical cheating.  

Divorce attorney Nikki Ziegler warned of the emotional damage that keeping financial secrets from your partner could evoke, saying that oftentimes the issues becomes "bombastic." 

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"Most of the time, this becomes this bombastic issue between parties because one person feels betrayed. You can't sit in a marriage and say, ‘I love you,’ and have secrets from a financial perspective – forget about the emotional perspective," the divorce attorney said Thursday. 

The study also spotlighted different avenues consumers are taking to keep their spending habits hidden. Around 12% of adults who are married, in a civil partnership, or living with a partner admitted to having a separate credit card, 9% admitted to keeping their debt hidden from their partner, and 6% said that they have a completely separate checking account. 

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