{"id":287858,"date":"2026-02-12T17:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/287858\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:12:12","slug":"love-and-volatility-couples-want-to-invest-together-but-cant-agree-on-risk-survey-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/287858\/","title":{"rendered":"Love and volatility: Couples want to invest together, but can\u2019t agree on risk, survey finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Bob Common, 64, and Diane Shamchuk, 66, in their Hamilton, Ont., home on Tuesday. The couple have navigated investing together for over 30 years.Nick Iwanyshyn\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Bob Common, 64, and Diane Shamchuk, 66, have been managing their money together for more than 30 years of marriage. They\u2019re the first to admit it hasn\u2019t always been easy.<\/p>\n

One of the first major financial risks they took came in the early 1990s, when they bought a restaurant. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have any money, so we used everybody else\u2019s money,\u201d said Mr. Common.<\/p>\n

That early leap shaped how the Hamilton couple would approach money: Talking through decisions, learning as they went and accepting they wouldn\u2019t always see eye to eye. <\/p>\n

Ms. Shamchuk, for example, says she\u2019s more interested in investing in environmentally conscious companies than her spouse. \u201cWe don\u2019t necessarily align on what to invest in,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Their experience reflects a broader challenge Canadian couples face. A Bank of Nova Scotia survey released in early February found that while many couples invest as a team, more than a third say aligning on risk tolerance is one of the biggest hurdles, ranking higher than disagreements over spending or saving habits.<\/p>\n

\u2018How should I choose a financial adviser and set a plan?\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The survey was conducted overnight on Jan. 7 among 934 married or partnered Canadian adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you peel back the onion, your risk tolerance is underpinning those decisions on spending and saving,\u201d said Helen He, vice-president of retail investments at Scotiabank.<\/p>\n

Ms. He said couples typically confront differences in risk tolerance when they start merging their financial lives.<\/p>\n

Those differences can stem from careers, savings levels and how each person grew up thinking about money, she said. Someone who is more risk-averse, for example, may want a larger safety net for retirement than someone who is more comfortable spending on big purchases.<\/p>\n

According to the Scotiabank survey, boomers are the most likely generation to struggle with agreeing on risk tolerance, with 42 per cent reporting difficulty. Gen Z follows closely at 38 per cent. Ms. He said that for boomers, the shift from accumulating savings to drawing down portfolios in retirement can significantly change how much risk feels comfortable.<\/p>\n

Before buying their restaurant, Mr. Common and Ms. Shamchuk took a course at Mohawk College to better understand their finances. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know anything about finances, or retirement, or investing,\u201d Mr. Common said. Not long after, they began working with a financial adviser \u2013 a relationship that has lasted nearly 25 years.<\/p>\n

Ms. Shamchuk said having an adviser has been pivotal, particularly during difficult moments. When investments don\u2019t perform well, or the couple disagrees over money risks, having a third party act as a buffer prevents them from blaming each other, she said.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

When investing, the couple make compromises with one another and have regular conversations to make sure they are on the same page.Nick Iwanyshyn\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Today, the couple maintains separate tax-free savings accounts and registered retirement income fund accounts \u2013 each with its own risk profile \u2013 as well as a joint investment account. For the shared portfolio, they work with their adviser to balance both of their needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a responsibility to yourself, and the couple, to make sure if you\u2019re going to invest together, you know exactly where the money is going,\u201d Mr. Common said.<\/p>\n

Simon Wong, a certified financial planner and head of financial planning at Blueprint Financial, said that with most couples, one partner is more risk-averse than the other. One of the biggest mistakes he sees is when one partner tries to force the other to adopt their risk tolerance.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, the more aggressive investor tends to push harder during bull markets, and the more conservative tends to shut everything down during volatility,\u201d Mr. Wong said. That dynamic can leave one partner feeling anxious or resentful.<\/p>\n

Instead, Mr. Wong said couples should align investment decisions with their goals rather than short-term market swings.<\/p>\n

He pointed to one benefit of individual investment accounts with different risk profiles: If one partner is more conservative, they may have funds to draw on during market downturns, while the more aggressive partner keeps long-term growth on the table. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat balance can actually strengthen the overall portfolio of the plan for clients,\u201d Mr. Wong said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Common and Ms. Shamchuk also learned that supporting one another through mistakes is an important part of investing together. During the COVID-19 market turmoil, Ms. Shamchuk panicked and sold about a third of her portfolio and moved it into cash. She now knows it wasn\u2019t the right decision, but neither her husband nor her adviser made her feel badly about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere needs to be respect given to someone who\u2019s going to go out in a different direction,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Whether a couple is successful in investing \u201cisn\u2019t necessarily about maximizing return,\u201d Mr. Wong said. \u201cIt\u2019s more about maximizing sleep at night for both partners.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Bob Common, 64, and Diane Shamchuk, 66, in their Hamilton, Ont., home on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[114,268,85,46,266,267,3681],"class_list":{"0":"post-287858","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance","14":"tag-r-fp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}