![]() ![]() In marriage, you generally can't have your cake and eat it, too, but when it comes to money, you can enjoy the benefits of separate accounts and share a joint bank account. If they'd kept separate accounts all along, they'd both have retained the skills required to manage money. My husband was happy to abdicate responsibility-he knew from the get-go that I was better at managing the green stuff-one of the reasons he married me to begin with! A perfectly workable strategy, at least for the short term, but what happens if you get divorced or the financially literate partner dies? Sadly, I see a lot of widows and divorcees struggle with basic budgeting, saving and debt management because they'd gotten so used to outsourcing financial decisions to another person. When couples share a joint bank account, what sometimes happens is the money-savvy partner takes control of the household finances. Here's more on how to discuss money when your spouse is on another planet, personality-wise. If you already have a joint bank account and money arguments are getting out of hand, deciding to go back to separate accounts can raise the white flag and declare a ceasefire on hostilities. Better to go your separate ways banking-wise than to separate down the road because of bickering over bitterly contested dimes. Separate accounts, meanwhile, nip resentment in the bud. Why can't they stick to a budget? Why are they so cheap? Compulsively monitoring your spouse's every transaction on your smartphone can get viciously addictive. ![]() You can spend according to your temperament. Nobody wants to scold or nag, but it's hard to hold your tongue when your significant other is a spendthrift-or its opposite, a penny-pincher.Ultimately, you and your spouse need to decide what percentage of your incomes should be considered joint and what shouldn't. They work hard for that money-so why shouldn't they be allowed to keep some of it for themselves? It really depends on your dynamics as a duo. I have friends who out-earn their husbands by a considerable margin and don't like the idea of splitting the difference, no matter how educated or progressive they are. Having a separate bank account in marriage gives you a sense of financial independence, self-identity and empowerment. To start on the right foot with your other half and avoid resentment from brewing, schedule a time to sit down with them, ideally before tying the knot, to discuss pre-acquired debts and how to deal with them fairly. A joint bank account could be vulnerable to your spouse's creditors, while leaving your precious dollars in an individual account can protect them. Likewise, if your spouse entered the marriage with student loans, credit card debt, or alimony and/or child support payments, joining accounts could result in having some of your hard-earned income garnished to pay off those debts-not something that someone who is debt free with a pristine FICO score might be on board with. If you transfer it to a joint account, your spouse may have a claim to half of it in the event of a divorce. The same holds true for that $50,000 inheritance from your grandfather. Anything you acquired while single, like that $30,000 in your savings account, won't be considered marital property, so it may not make sense to merge it into a shared account. 1 Getting married later means you're likely to bring more to the union-not just life experience and wisdom, but also financial assets. Americans are waiting longer to settle down-the average age of a first-time bride is 27, up from age 20 in 1960. Here are some benefits of separate accounts for you and your spouse to consider: As in the case of a snoring partner relegated to a separate bed, separate bank accounts might even save a marriage. I soon learned that married life was complicated-that, in fact, there are many good reasons for maintaining separate bank accounts in marriage it might actually make a relationship stronger. As far as I was concerned, a joint bank account was de rigueur, like sharing a bed. Maybe I was just old fashioned, but when I got married, I assumed that everything would merge: family, households-and money. ![]()
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