Brits keeping 21 million ‘money secrets’ from friends and family, survey reveals

Four in ten people admit staying quiet or telling fibs about debts or savings

A pile of credit cards.
(Image credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

People across the UK are hiding a total of 21 million “money secrets” about hidden debts, loans or savings, new research has found.

The survey of more than 5,200 adults reveals that four in ten are concealing the true state of their finances from their nearest and dearest. The most common secrets were hidden credit cards (37%), undisclosed personal loans (23%) and secret savings accounts (21%).

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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs. 

Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.