Scenario: There’s a credit card in your wallet your better half knows nothing about. You got it because you were in a financial jam you didn’t feel like ‘fessing up to, and to this day the amount of debt you’re carrying is, well, a little higher than you’d like it to be. Little white lie? Or financial infidelity? Perhaps a bit of both. Man with credit card becon / Getty Images An estimated 12 million Americans have hidden a bank or credit card account from a live-in significant other, partner or spouse, according to a new CreditCards.com survey. Baby boomers, the research found, are four times more likely than millennials to have concealed an account. Whatever you think that says about those respective generations, “that’s a lot of people who are keeping a secret that could really do a lot of damage both to a couple’s finances and to their relationship,” says Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com. Focus on the Problem, Not the Symptom What should you do if a secret account rears its head in your relationship? (Or if you’ve got one your partner still doesn’t know about?) Shutting it down may seem like the right move, but it doesn’t address the underlying problem. The precursor to secrets is often secret resentment, says consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow. Many people are “upfront about how they’re spending their money but not upfront about how they feel about it,” she says. Resentment about how money is spent can mean there…more detail
