Yours, mine, or ours: Does bank account status in early marriage affect financial behavior and financial satisfaction?

Abstract

The relationship between an individual’s financial behavior and financial satisfaction is well known. Less evidence is available about how these two constructs interplay within couples. This considered, the current paper aims to (a) examine whether individuals’ financial satisfaction is influenced by their own financial behavior (actor effect) and their partner’s financial behavior (partner effect); (b) examine whether these two effects vary between husbands and wives; and (c) verify how couples’ bank account status (i.e., only joint bank accounts, only separate bank accounts, both joint and separate bank accounts) moderate these effects. The current study draws 1,475 heterosexual early married couples from Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences study and modeled dyadic data through an Actor Partner Interdependence Model. Results indicate that actor’s financial behavior is associated only with one’s own financial satisfaction (actor effect) and not one’s partner’s financial satisfaction (partner effect). This holds for both wives and husbands. Furthermore, individuals who hold only joint bank account(s) are more likely to have financial behaviors similar to their partner than individuals who hold only separate bank accounts or both joint and separate accounts. Couples who hold only separate accounts are more likely to engage in less positive financial behavior than their counterparts. Implications for relationship therapists and financial professionals are discussed.