In Matters of Money, Opposites Don't Attract

58% of Canadian savers admit they wouldn't consider a life with their financial opposite

TORONTO, Feb. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - When it comes to finances and relationships, Canadians insist on two things: being with a partner who shares a similar outlook on money (important for 90%) and knowing about their partner's finances, including income, debt and investments (important for 87% of those with a romantic partner). A new ING DIRECT study found that 60% of Canadians identify themselves as savers, and within this group, 58% said they wouldn't consider marriage or a long-term relationship with someone who identified themselves as a spender.

Not surprisingly, among the 40% who call themselves spenders, the majority (87%) said they would enter into a relationship with a saver.

Whether a spender or a saver, more than half of Canadians (53%) cited managing money as the biggest financial stressor in a relationship, followed by having children (14%), buying a home (11%) and saving for retirement (10%).

Seventy-one per cent of Canadians surveyed said they know a great deal about their current or past partner's finances. A third of respondents in a relationship said they keep money in a joint account with their partner, while another 33% admit to keeping money in separate accounts. Discussing finances is a weekly occurrence for a quarter (26%) of Canadians, while 21% said they talk to their partner once a month about money-related matters. Twenty-eight percent admit to only speaking about the topic with their partner when an issue arises.

"Making time to talk about money and finances is an important part of any long-term relationship, even more so if couples are financial opposites", said Andrew Zimakas, chief marketing officer at ING DIRECT. "If couples make this part of their regular dialogue and share in decisions about their financial wellbeing, they will be in a better position to manage any issues that may arise."

As important as money is in a relationship, only 11% of Canadians have actually ended a relationship for financial reasons. Half of respondents said that they require five or more dates with someone before discussing finances.

When it comes to tying the knot, both spenders and savers said they have pinched pennies. Fifty per cent of respondents said they saved on their wedding, 48% of which were spenders and 52% of which were savers.

Uniting Two Savers

Michael Smith and Imma Aliwalas both consider themselves savers. After experiencing personal and financial hardship in 2013, the engaged couple were uncertain when they'd be able to have their dream wedding. Then the couple came across ING DIRECT's 'For the Love of Saving' wedding contest last September.

The contest asked Toronto-area couples to submit a video explaining how they enjoy date night on a budget for the chance to win an all-expense paid ceremony at the ING DIRECT downtown Toronto Café, and $10,000 in an Investment Savings Account. Michael and Imma's submission was one of the top three videos that were put to an online vote. When notified that they had won, the couple was overwhelmed.

"The ING DIRECT wedding contest has given us an exciting and unique opportunity to create a very memorable experience with our family and friends," said groom Michael Smith. "From the very beginning, we've felt extremely grateful to be part of this, and the $10,000 has really helped get us on the right financial path."

Michael and Imma will be married on February 8, 2014 at the ING DIRECT Downtown Toronto Café, marking the first time in Canada that wedding vows will be exchanged in a bank.

"A wedding in a unique venue like our Café isn't something you hear about every day," said Zimakas. "This is an opportunity to showcase our location in the heart of downtown Toronto and demonstrate how we are helping to change the conversation about money."

Sponsors who helped to make this couple's day a reality include:  Pretty Sweet, Blush Photography + Film, All Seasons, Petal and Paper and Pink Twig.

About the Survey

From January 20^th to January 21^st 2014 an online survey was conducted among 1,508 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to education, age, gender and region (and in Quebec language) Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

About ING DIRECT

ING Bank of Canada, operating under the trade name of ING DIRECT, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of Nova Scotia. ING DIRECT is Canada's leading direct bank with over 1.9 million Clients and close to $40 billion in total assets. ING DIRECT is a bright way forward in everyday banking for Canadians, offering value added, simple products such as high interest savings accounts, including TFSAs, GICs and RSPs with no fees or service charges, mutual funds, low rates on mortgages and a no-fee, daily chequing account that actually pays interest. ING DIRECT has been operating in Canada since 1997, and has paid over $6 billion in interest to Clients. ING DIRECT is open for banking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at ingdirect.ca, on mobile devices at m.ingdirect.ca or by calling 1-800 ING DIRECT (1-800-464-3473).

ING Bank of Canada and its subsidiaries have been acquired by The Bank of Nova Scotia and are no longer affiliated with ING Groep N.V. The trademarks ING, ING DIRECT, ING Lion, the ING Lion logo and any derivation, variation, translation or adaptation thereof are trademarks of ING Groep N.V. and are used under license.

SOURCE ING DIRECT