Almost a quarter of Canadian couples say fights about money are severe according to a new poll released today by Investors Group.

Twenty-five per cent of adults describe their disagreements with their partners about finances as severe. And almost an equal portion, 23%, says their financial disagreements affect other aspects of their relationship.

British Columbians were the most likely to say that money issues had affected their relationship, at 31%.

The survey results indicate that even mild and infrequent disagreements about money have an affect on the relationship between spouses.

“Dealing with money in a relationship is tough,” says Debbie Ammeter, vice president of advanced financial planning at Investors Group. “Having a clear financial plan that both partners understand and agree upon can help alleviate many misunderstandings about money that may develop in a relationship.”

The most common source of marital spats about money was spending. Spending money, both in general and on specific purchases, was cited as the source of their most recent disagreement about money by 31% of Canadians.

Borrowing and debt issues were the root cause of disagreements among 9% of respondents.

The research shows that couples today are different than their parents when it comes to financial decision making. For example, they are less likely to have all financial decisions made by one person. While 23% of adult Canadians say that big financial decisions in their parents’ household were made by one person; only 9% say that is how big financial decisions are made in their household today.

Despite some marital hostilities over finances, couples today are feeling like they are doing well compared to their parents: 55% say they are better off than their parents were at a similar stage of life, only 15% say they are doing worse, and 30% say they are doing about the same.

Canadians also consider themselves to be more active investors than their parents. Two thirds of Canadians, or 66%, say they are more inclined to invest in stocks and/or mutual funds than their parents were.

The survey results are based on a Decima Express national telephone survey conducted with a representative sample of 1,000 Canadians (18 yearsand older) between May 19 and 22, 2005.