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Keep your own accounts and your own direct deposits to your own accounts. Then transfer to the joint account whatever is needed for your joint bills.
No need to be in a hurry to "become one" - it's not necessary and some silly romantic notions can make things very complicated later. Adults should always have their own money to do with as they please while working together on deciding about large (your definition decided together) expenditures that affect your future as a couple.
This^^
You can have a comingled account, but still have separate accounts. Pay the common bills out of the comingled account, but keep your own separate accounts until you marry. Then, if you want to comingle all accounts, do so; if not, keep separate accounts.
We have most of our accounts comingled. We each have a separate individual savings account at the Credit Union, and I have a separate savings account at the bank we use just down the street, left over from when I was single. The separate individual savings accounts are "fun money" accounts. That is what we usually use for spending money on vacations, etc. Each account gets exactly the same amount deposited each month into them. Either of us can use the "fun money" anyway we see fit, but usually it is used for spending money on vacations as neither of wants to be "caught short" on vacation spending money. These accounts also provide peace of mind to each of us, as it belongs to each of us separately.
AS far as the comingled common bills account, advisers suggest to be "fair", you take the total of common bills and divide into your income to come up with an amount in percentage to go in from each of you, so you each pay in the exact same PERCENTAGE of your income {though dollar amounts will be different}. Example with simple math: your make $100, she makes $75/month. Your common bills are $40/month. If you each pay 25% of your income to the common account, you would pay $25, and she would pay $18.50 {25% of each income} for a total of $43.75 in the common account. That is $3.75 more than you need, but common bills can change and/or you may need a common repair, so a little extra kept in a comingled joint savings account may be wise also. NEITHER OF YOU is "cheated" and paying more than the same PERCENTAGE of your income, though you will pay more. If you separate, you simply pay remainder of last bills and close the comingled accounts and go your separate ways, each still having your own accounts. This is the "fair and EQUITABLE" way of having comingled accounts. If you each paid in $25, for example it is UNFAIR to her to pay a higher percentage of her income than you, especially since you make more.
Some states consider comingled accounts as a "sign of marriage", even though legally you are not married {yet}. Because of that, MOH {My Other Half} and I comingled some accounts early on in our relationship before we actually got married.
It is up to you two to do or not do, we can only make suggestions!
Best of luck, if the relationship is as sound as you think, comingling will be the "norm" when you do get married. Then your joint direct deposits can go in there, and you can still deposit equal amounts to individual accounts out of the joint account if you desire.
Their is a legal concept of separate money. You might want to discuss. For example if one of you received a large inheritance, would the funds be keep separate or joined together?
I don't know about other states but in California, an inheritance is considered separate property and one would be wise to keep it apart from community property.
Thank you all! She and I discussed this topic last night and decided not to move forward with any co mingling of funds. She merely suggested it because she thought it would be easier for paying co-bills. I did tell her that we could get a credit card in our names that we could then use to pay our bills but she doesn't want another CC than the one she has. So we are just going to continue with business as usual and keep using Chase Quick Pay to swap funds.
Thank you again and I agree that the pros likely don't outweigh the potential cons if something tragic occurs.
It's more of a i wouldn't do it until married but if you're going to this is probably the best way to do it. I personally wouldn't combine finances unless i was married. Even still it would depend on how we are with money. In my experience money has been a complicated thing in relationships. It seemed like the females i encountered didnt mind living above their means if it looked good to others.
Amazingly enough not all females are as irresponsible as those you appear to encounter.
OP: Personally Mr. CSD and I did not combine anything until after we were Married. He paid from his
money/account and I paid from my money/account. It kept things legally separated until we were legally Married. It was also little to no stress and very easy to keep everything accounted for.
It's more of a i wouldn't do it until married but if you're going to this is probably the best way to do it. I personally wouldn't combine finances unless i was married. Even still it would depend on how we are with money. In my experience money has been a complicated thing in relationships. It seemed like the females i encountered didnt mind living above their means if it looked good to others.
hahah - Guys have never been known to buy fancy cars and toys for themselves either!
Thank you all! She and I discussed this topic last night and decided not to move forward with any co mingling of funds. She merely suggested it because she thought it would be easier for paying co-bills. I did tell her that we could get a credit card in our names that we could then use to pay our bills but she doesn't want another CC than the one she has. So we are just going to continue with business as usual and keep using Chase Quick Pay to swap funds.
Thank you again and I agree that the pros likely don't outweigh the potential cons if something tragic occurs.
Thanks for posting what you did.
I think we all need several credit cards. If the card is compromised it can be closed by the cc company. If you are traveling and relying on the card you can be in trouble.
I have had a number of attempted cc thefts. No real problem to me other than the card could not be used from a few hours to several weeks. But I had back up cards and needed to use them.
My Fiancee and I just moved in together. She brought up the subject of joining finances. She is very responsible and is certainly not someone I wouldn't trust. I do think a joint account would make it easier to pay rent, split bills, save for our wedding etc. However I always heard combining any assets prior to a legal marriage was a bad idea but I'm not sure exactly why. I make about 30% more than her if that matters to the subject. She does have a lot more cash in hand than I do since I bought my condo and she lived at home with her parents right out of school to save.
So what do you think? Is it a good idea to join bank accounts? Do you think we should just open a single joint account and keep our own accounts active? Do you think the idea in general is a bad move? Why or why not?
If you want to go ahead and open a joint account and put in just enough to fund the joint bills, go ahead and do it, but that doesn't mean getting rid of his- and hers- yet.
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