Brits keeping 21 million ‘money secrets’ from friends and family, survey reveals

Four in ten people admit staying quiet or telling fibs about debts or savings

A pile of credit cards.
(Image credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

People across the UK are hiding a total of 21 million “money secrets” about hidden debts, loans or savings, new research has found.

The survey of more than 5,200 adults reveals that four in ten are concealing the true state of their finances from their nearest and dearest. The most common secrets were hidden credit cards (37%), undisclosed personal loans (23%) and secret savings accounts (21%).

“Partners are the most likely to be left in the dark,” The Times reports. “While 23% of people in relationships suspect that their spouse has kept a money secret, nearly half of those in relationships, or 45%, admitted having an undisclosed money product.”

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People aged 25 to 34 are the most secretive bunch, with nearly three in five hiding money products, “particularly credit cards, personal loans and overdrafts”, the newspaper adds.

By contrast, pensioners are the most open age group, with just 26% keeping secrets, according to the research, from the government-backed Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).

Some of the reasons given for staying quiet included feeling embarrassed or fearful of being judged.

But there are “numerous” other explanations for why people keep money secrets, says MaPS insights director Sarah Porretta. A hidden savings account may act “as a buffer for those who want to escape a difficult relationship”, she explains.

Other reasons include “an unpaid bill being kept under wraps in order to protect anxious family members”, as well as wanting to avoid “feeling of shame or embarrassment that debts have spiralled out of control”.

The survey was conducted to mark “Talk Money Week”, which is aimed at “encouraging people who are struggling financially in the pandemic to talk it over with a friend, family member or expert”, the BBC reports.

More information about Talk Money Week can be found here.

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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs. 

Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.