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Each person should at the very least some money of their own that does not require approval, permission or scrutiny...perhaps a certain percentage or a dollar amount of a paycheck per week, depending on how much is being brought in. Call it an allowance or whatever...but it's for saving/spending/splurging/squirreling away with no questions asked. If they want to play bingo, buy a gift for someone, splurge on lunch or a spa treatment, play the lottery...it's money that has no strings and no expectations attached to it.
I've been married for 20 years, and we've maintained separate checking accounts (they are joint since we can each sign on both accounts) and separate ATM accounts. We have a 2 signature checking account for major purchases, vacations and home improvements. He pays certain bills, I pay others but it works out evenly. We each have our own TSA's and retirement accounts. It works for us, but only because we talked about it before we were married and continue to discuss money. We both work full-time, and I actually make quite a bit more than he does at this time in our lives.
What do you guys think about this? Is it a good idea to keep the finances separate? Both have separate accounts for everything but both contribute to a emergency savings?
If your living together and both work maybe......
Something that worked for us when I was married was all accounts were joint, but each of us had a seperate checking account. One payed bills the other groceries shopping etc. Both of us worked and shareed $ equally. Each person also had a cash allowance for that cup of coffee or hot lunch. Each had a credit card in their name with the other as a signer. This keeps both credit ratings up and current. Trust is the key and both knowing where the $ are going, but not obsessing over it.
I would recommend a modified system for non married persons. My observation is buying joint property in these situations is problematic at best.
I have seen situations where one, or both, spouses do what you suggest - and then one dies. The other has no money now.
What would you suggest?
In my case we both know everything about each others finances, we just have separate accounts. I don't look at his checkbook, and he doesn't look at mine. If anything happened though we are both set up in our will as each other's beneficiarys and have power of attorney in event of death. There would be no issue with the other one having access in event of death. We both know where the checkbooks are.
I havn't read all of the posts, but I do agree with a lot of what I have read. I don't see anything wrong with seperate accounts myself. My fiance can save, and be fairly frugal when she wants too. But there again, so can I. The way I plan to handle it when we're married, is to just let HER decide if she wants our accounts seperate or not. She is a fair-minded type person, and I would trust her to do the right thing, even if our marriage were to not work. I'm pretty simple myself, and if I can always have a couple hundred dollars to just have at my disposal, I'm OK with it. That is not to say money isn't important, because it is, but still, I think I will just let her choose on this situation.
My parents always shared accounts. However, their advice to me was this is a BAD idea. :P
I read somewhere that my parent's generation will be the first to pass down debt rather than inheritance as an average. It shows in that generation and my generation's spending habits. On the flip side, it would be hard to find someone as frugal as me. Even a thrifty person who saves would still have their spending habits scrutinized by me. I do NOT want that to be a point of contention in my marriage. While a small "emergency and bills" joint account might work, it would take many years of marriage and understanding each other's finances for me to feel comfortable opening a larger joint account. It's a long way before I have to cross that bridge, however.
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