Most American couples feel their financial health is in good to excellent shape, according to the Fidelity Investments Couples & Money study released Tuesday.

The strong economy of the last few years may be the reason 47 percent of those surveyed said their household’s financial health is very good and another 22 percent went even further to say it is excellent.

In contrast, only 26 percent identified their household financial health as fair, with a mere 5 percent painting it as poor in the survey of 1,662 couples who were married or in a long-term committed relationship with a minimum household income of $75,000 or at least $100,000 in investable assets.

However, with more than half of the couples, one partner brought debt with them into the relationship and, of those, 40 percent said the debt had a negative impact on their relationship. “Whether couples bring debt into their marriage is not really the issue ... it’s how they handle it. For those who say they are concerned about debt, nearly half also admit that money is their biggest relationship challenge,” the report said.

Several disconnects were discovered when the study probed the partners’ perceptions about their money.

For couples where debt was brought into the relationship, 49 percent contradicted each other on whose responsibility it is to pay off that debt. On the plus side, more individuals were willing to take on their partners’ debt (55 percent) versus those who expected their partner to pay off their debts (33 percent).

More than 40 percent also had some disagreement about when they plan to retire and 54 percent differed on how much they think they need to save to retire.

“Couples who plan together tell us they feel financially strong, regardless of their age or length of relationship,” said Alexandra Taussig, senior vice president of lifetime client engagement at Fidelity. “Openly discussing financial matters helps people feel more confident, more closely aligned and better equipped to take on the future. Working together, couples can help each other build financial confidence in their ability to manage, should the day come they have to do it on their own.”

Two-thirds of the couples indicated they discuss some aspect of their finances at least monthly.
         
The couples who participated in the survey had some advice to share: Save as early as possible for retirement, don’t take on more debt than you can possibly afford and make all financial decisions together.