27% of Singaporeans commit financial infidelity, according to survey

Singapore — Financial infidelity is a very real thing and, what is more, over one in four, or 27 per cent, of Singaporeans have committed it, according to a survey discussed on the Finder finance website.

This means that approximately 783,000 Singaporeans over the age of 16 may have been  less than truthful with their partner concerning their finances at least once in their lives.

These untruths could be as small as telling the partner an item bought cost less than the price paid, or as big as hiding a separate bank account from him or her.

So, what have we been lying about? The survey of 1,008 people in October this year shows that Singaporeans are most likely to not tell their partners about purchases that involve shoes or clothes (8 per cent), or hobby-related expenses, electronic devices, and skincare or make-up products (6 per cent each). A smaller percentage have hidden purchases of fast food (5 per cent), alcohol (4 per cent) and cigarettes (3 per cent).

Five per cent of those who surveyed have secretly paid off debts and 4 per cent have not told the truth about having gone on a date with another person.

Men and women are equally likely to hide something they have bought from their partner, but the type of purchases are very different.

The top three things that men tend to hide are: A hobby-related purchase (9 per cent), an electronic device (8 per cent) or a debt, gambling or alcohol (7 per cent).

As for women, they are more likely to hide clothes and shoes (10 per cent), skincare or make-up (7 per cent) and jewellery (5 per cent).

Across the various age groups, those who hide purchases from their significant others the most are from 35 to 44 years old (36 per cent), from 45 to 54 (29 per cent) and from 25 to 24 (26 per cent).

The older the person, the more financially honest. The survey shows that those aged 55 and older tend to lie the least about their purchases (20 per cent).

And how are Singaporeans hiding the truth about their purchases? It seems that 39 per cent tell their partners that the items cost less than they actually do. Another way to get around the truth is to use cash for purchases, as 37 per cent did.

“Just over a quarter (26%) say they blame the transaction on something else. Meanwhile just under one in five used a BNPL service (buy now pay later) or asked a friend or family member to make the purchase and transferred the money later,” according to the survey.  /TISG