New research highlights the growing need for advisers to help couples align financial responsibility, expectations and long-term planning.

New research from investment, protection and retirement advice specialist, LV= reveals how couples across the UK divide financial responsibility and where mismatches in decision making and expectations could create long-term financial risk.

The findings, unveiled in LV’s latest Wealth and Wellbeing research, show that while many couples aim to share financial decisions fairly, income, family setups and long-term planning can often tell a very different story. For advisers, the data highlights clear opportunities to support clients with joint financial and retirement planning. 

Nearly half of UK adults (47%) say responsibility for long-term financial decisions is shared equally with their partner. Women are more likely than men to say decisions are balanced (53% vs 41%). However, the data suggests that perceived equality does not always translate into shared understanding or joint planning.

Income plays a significant role in shaping who takes control. Among those earning £100,000 or more, almost half (47%) say they personally carry most of the financial responsibility, compared with a third (33%) of people earning between £25,000 and £99,000. This concentration of responsibility could increase vulnerability if circumstances were to change, such as through ill health, separation or bereavement.

Family structure further influences financial behaviour. Adults without children are more than twice as likely to keep their finances separate than parents with children under 18 (22% vs 9%), suggesting greater financial interdependence once children enter the picture, but also a need for coordinated protection and estate planning.

Despite this interdependence, joint planning isn’t always happening. Nearly one in five people (18%) expect to rely on their partner’s pension in retirement and fewer than one in ten (6%) say their partner mostly manages their shared finances. For advisers, this disconnect highlights a potential risk to retirement outcomes where expectations are not supported by formal planning.

Taken together, the findings point to a broader issue, couples may be making assumptions about shared financial responsibility without the relevant structures, documentation or advice in place to support those assumptions over the long term. This could leave households exposed to shortfalls in retirement income, insufficient protection cover, or unintended outcomes following life events.