Over a third (35 per cent) of retired Finnish couples said they occasionally have disagreements about their finances, research from the Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK) has found.

The research also found that more than half (56 per cent) of retired couples never have disagreements about finances, while less than one in 10 pensioners couples have disagreements about finances once a month.

ETK suggested that age and gender were reflected in the experience of conflicts, as the older the person, the less often disagreements about money were experienced.

In addition to this, slightly more often women said that there was no dispute about money, compared to men.

Additionally, cohabiting couples reported recurring disagreements more often, while married couples reported occasional disagreements more often.

In a research article, University of Turku, Riku-Petteri Wallin, said: “The focus of disagreements on younger old-age pensioners may be explained by the fact that they may not yet have fully adjusted to the decrease in income after retirement.”

The research also found that a household's financial situation was a “significant” factor in explaining money disputes.

In particular, conflicts were more frequent among those with a "meagre" financial situation and the burden of debt repayment, as these increased recurring disagreements became more common.

Meanwhile, for pensioner couples recurring disagreements were considerably more common when there was no money left after necessary expenses.

The findings also pointed out that money disputes could be related to income level, with lower income (under EUR 1,500 per month) associated with recurring disagreements.

However, occasional disagreements were more common in higher-income households.
The study found that if a couple had a joint account, money disagreements were less common.

In particular, among pensioners who have a joint account, 61 per cent felt that there were no disagreements, while 54 per cent who did not share their accounts said the same.

“The more common the money and account arrangements a couple have, the rarer disagreements are,” University of Turku senior researcher, Anniina Kaittila, commented.

ETK explained that people over 65 are a significant and growing part of the adult population and their economic well-being thus affects the whole picture of the economic well-being of Finns.

It went on to suggest that so far, little attention had been paid to the financial management of pensioner couples when developing services.

"In the future, it would also be important to offer services to pensioners who experience financial pressures and financial conflicts,” Wallin added.

“When developing them, it is necessary to pay particular attention to the retirement phase, where, according to our research, disagreements are common.”

---