Money has managed to incite yet another flare-up in the battle of the sexes. In a recent poll of wealthy individuals by SEI, an investment and fund-processing provider, men were thought to feel more stress if their wives were the primary financial decision-maker than women whose husbands were the financial decision-maker.
The stress was experienced by 20 percent of the 500-plus individuals polled. Almost a third of the female financial leads surveyed (29%) said they believe their partner feel stressed by their role in financial decision-making, while only a fraction of the males polled (14%) said they feel tension from their partner, according to the survey.
“When you’re dealing with relationships and money, stress is a given, and when a woman is the primary wealth creator the survey shows it’s even greater,” Michael Farrell, managing director for SEI Wealth Management, said in a statement.
Of the respondents feeling stress, spending and investment decisions were the most likely causes, with 58% citing spending and 34% citing investing decisions as their source of tension. Savings decisions were identified as a top source of stress by another third of those polled.
Other top sources of tension in wealthy households include income level (29%), money given to children (21%), control (21%), and giving/charity (20%). The least likely source of tension? Money given to other family members, the survey found.
The poll had more than 500 respondents representing individuals or families with more than $1 million in investable assets. It was conducted in partnership with research firm Phoenix Marketing International.
