Choices concerning the accumulation of assets form one of the most important components of decision-making within couples. Through retracing the residential trajectories of couples, the aim of this paper is to understand what happens to housing assets (or what happened) during the passage to retirement. Twenty-four qualitative interviews were undertaken in 2010, with each member of the couple interviewed separately. The analysis reveals the process of negotiation between couples resulting from different types of conjugal relations, the influence of separate family histories, social class and gender identity. For the most recent cohorts, the increasing participation of women in the labour market has been a factor that has restructured relationships between couples. Increasingly independent, these women have more active roles in the management of housing assets, relocation decisions and the type of housing chosen. In addition, they are increasingly involved in retirement planning in the context of future uncertainties linked to growing old.