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One In Five Americans Commit Financial Infidelity

WALNUT CREEK (KPIX 5) - Have you ever lied about money to your partner?

As it turns out, many couples are keeping secrets about their cash and spending.
 
<a href="https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/financial-infidelity-cheating-poll.php"A new survey by creditcards.com found that 29 million Americans in live-in relationships or 20% are hiding a checking, savings or credit card account from their partner. It's also known as financial infidelity.
 
"Not with a bank account, but I definitely have hidden some money from her," said Stephen Lioy.
 
Lioy and Danish Owen have been together for 10 years and have a 7-month-old baby boy.

"I'm the spender and he's the saver and if it weren't for him we probably wouldn't have no money," said Owen.
 
CreditCards.com says millennials are the sneakiest. The group is almost twice as likely to financially cheat than those who are older.
 
"Millennials are more likely than any other generation to grow up with divorced parents and I think this has filtered into their own relationships as well," said Ted Rossman, Industry Analyst with CreditCards.com. "A lot of millennials are remembering what happened when mom and dad broke up and as a result, they're keeping a freedom fund of sorts."
 
Rossman says a secret account is rarely a homewrecker, but it does signal a breach of trust.
 
"It brings up a lot of uncomfortable questions, because then the other person's going to wonder - what else are they hiding?" said Rossman.
 
Patricia Johnson of Antioch said to avoid financial infidelity, she keeps things honest and separate.
 
"We had everything separate and some things we had together and whatever we had separate was mine and whatever he had was his and whatever we had together, we had together," she said.
 
Another reason CreditCards.com says people set aside money is become of shame - of debts from the past or their spending habits.

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