There are some secrets that should never be divulged to any human being other than your bank manager. How much you fork out on hairdressing, for example, or the exact nature of bar bills.

While I’m generally a stickler for honesty in married life, no relationship is improved by sharing such details. So, I wasn’t surprised to learn, courtesy of research from the Co-op’s legal services, that one in three married people aged 65 or over keep some form of financial asset hidden from their spouse, with 14 per cent silently sitting on £50,000 ($100,137) or more of unknown savings.

If you keep your own money, you can spend it as you see fit. But you’re also responsible for your own debt.Credit: iStock

Too blooming right they do. Even those of us in our 50s can recognise the wisdom of this gambit. It’s one thing to pay your way and show largesse in wedded life (in fact, it should be obligatory), but quite another to reveal every last detail........

© The Sydney Morning Herald