A recent survey by Fidelity shows that wives and husbands don’t share retirement-planning duties nor agree on the plan:

• Only 41% of couples surveyed handle retirement investment decisions together.
• Only 17% of couples say either spouse is prepared to assume sole responsibility of their retirement finances.
• Although women are more likely to outlive their husbands, only 35% of wives say they are completely confident in their ability to take over the finances. 72% of husbands feel they can.
• 33% of couples say they don’t agree or don’t know where they plan to retire.
• 62% of couples nearing retirement don’t agree on the age at which to stop working
• 47% of couples nearing retirement don’t agree on whether they will continue to work in retirement.

Here’s what you should do and know:

• Both husbands and wives should know where critical documents are kept
• Both need to know what to do if their spouse is no longer able to assist with financial decision-making
• Both should have an understanding of the family’s finances, savings, and investment goals.
• Both should become active in financial planning and meeting with the family’s financial and investment advisors.
• Both husbands and wives should talk about retirement and finances more often together for better agreement and mutual understanding.