An argument about the government shutdown is less likely to ruin Americans’ dinner conversations than a discussion of their household debt: Once again, money is the ultimate taboo.
Americans are still more comfortable talking about their marriage problems, mental illnesses, drug addictions, racial issues, sex, politics and religion than their finances, according to a survey of more than 1,200 adults by Los Angeles-based Capital Group.
In fact, only about one-third of the survey’s respondents—30 percent of men, 40 percent of women—reported discussing financial topics with friends and peers within the last month. That may be because the most commonly identified taboos—household earnings, named by 39 percent of those in the survey; retirement savings, named by 28 percent; and debt, named by 32 percent—all dealt with money.
Fewer respondents named issues like politics (17 percent) drug use (14 percent) and racial issues (8 percent) as taboos.
Women were more likely to consider financial topics taboo than men, but they were also more likely to discuss finances with their spouse or an advisor.
When Capital Group looked across the generations, millennials, those age 21 to 37, were more likely to seek financial advice from family and friends than older generations, while Gen Xers, aged 38 to 52, and baby boomers, aged 53 to 71, were more likely than millennials to seek the assistance of a professional advisor or discuss their financial problems with a spouse or significant other.
To break the taboo, Capital Group recommends four courses of action: that people open up their discussion of family finances at home among spouses, parents and children; that people seek professional financial advice; that they seek financial assistance through employers; and that they visualize their retirement lifestyles to allow goal-setting and planning.
For its survey, Capital Group polled 1,202 American adults online in April 2018.