Many couples don't know how much their partner earns

If you don't know how much money your partner makes, it turns out you certainly aren't the only one.

A new study conducted by Fidelity Investments discovered that 43 percent of people have no idea how much their partner earns. That's up from 27 percent two years ago.

Perhaps even more astonishing -- half of the more than 1,000 couples surveyed had no idea how much money they needed to put aside annually to continue their current lifestyle after they retire.

Fidelity's executive vice president of retirement and investing strategies said in a press release the company was surprised by the study's results. It doesn't come as a surprise that a financial services company did a survey and basically found that people need its services -- but the findings are still rather surprising.

"If gaps exist around basic questions like salary, couples might have other opportunities for improvement on the financial front," John Sweeney said.

A lot of people consider money an uncomfortable subject to talk about, though.

A psychotherapist wrote in an article for NBC, "We have a feeling, largely unconscious, that it might reveal too much about us."

If you find it difficult to start a conversation with your partner about money, a writer for Money suggests asking open-ended questions to start off the discussion or making an appointment with a financial advisor.

Which is probably exactly what Fidelity would like you to do after hearing the results of its survey.