5 Sources of Financial Friction for Couples

What your spouse or significant other spends (or doesn’t spend) on you this Valentine’s Day could determine the future of your relationship in ways you didn’t anticipate. A study by researchers at the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University found that when it comes to money, opposites do sometimes attract. In particular, spendthrifts tend to marry tightwads. It seems that spendthrifts don’t necessarily like their tendency to overspend, so they try to compensate for it when choosing a mate. Same thing with tightwads, who aren’t pleased with their penchant for pinching pennies. But instead of happy-ever-after endings, such odd-couple matchups just lead to fights about money. So if your beau buys you a bouquet of posies when what you really wanted was a diamond bauble, watch out. There could be trouble ahead.

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