Retirement Planning Creates Discord Among Couples

American couples continue to disagree on their specific future financial plans, despite sharing retirement goals, according to Ameriprise Financial.

The Ameriprise Couples, Money & Retirement study revealed 94% of couples are transparent with each other about finances and 91% said they share the same financial values.

However, differences between couples emerge when it comes to the details — 24% have not come to an agreement on how much money they will need to save for retirement or how much they should spend on children or grandchildren, both today and as part of their estates.

In addition, 25% have different estimates of how much money they will spend on hobbies and travel in retirement while 22% have different estimates of how much they will spend on their lifestyles.

Marcy Keckler, senior vice president of financial advice strategy at Ameriprise, said:  “Our research shows couples trust one another and share the same dreams for retirement, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve mutually agreed on how they’ll spend, save, and give away their money when the time comes.”

The report also found that 52% of couples have not yet put an estate plan in place, 41% do not have a financial plan and 39% have not figured out how they will recreate their paychecks in retirement.

According to Ameriprise Financial, the differences between retirement plans occur due to a lack of communication.

Not only do these delayed conversations stand in the way of planning for the future, they also create tension in the present, which is evident as 72% are currently providing some form of financial support to adult family members, but 14% reported they are in disagreement on how much to give.

Keckler added: “Couples who are delaying important conversations or who are unable to communicate openly about money tend to have more difficulty planning for the future together.”