Do you and your spouse have joint or separate bank accounts? (1 Viewer)

[IvanKaramazov]

Thankfully, my wife and I have nearly identical preferences for living slightly below our means, so there's never been any need to worry about one another's spending, and neither of us needs to permission to buy stuff. So no reason to have separate accounts.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Thankfully, my wife and I have nearly identical preferences for living slightly below our means, so there's never been any need to worry about one another's spending, and neither of us needs to permission to buy stuff. So no reason to have separate accounts.

We also can't be bothered with all that folderol. Sometimes, laziness pays off.

 

[-OZ-]

Thankfully, my wife and I have nearly identical preferences for living slightly below our means, so there's never been any need to worry about one another's spending, and neither of us needs to permission to buy stuff. So no reason to have separate accounts.

Same.
Plus I manage all the finances, wife has other stuff to do.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Thankfully, my wife and I have nearly identical preferences for living slightly below our means, so there's never been any need to worry about one another's spending, and neither of us needs to permission to buy stuff. So no reason to have separate accounts.

Same.
Plus I manage all the finances, wife has other stuff to do.

Same here

 

[Sleestak]

Separate. We were established adults (i.e. in our 30's) when we got married, had our own lives etc. No need to prove anything by joining our day-to-day finances. And frankly inertia. No kids, so its not like it was rocket surgery to run a household our way.

I manage the finances. She's retired now, so I push money into her checking account as needed. Bank to bank xfer - checks are too old school even for us. We are both cheapskates.

 

[Terminalxylem]

My wife just learned that some people do this. She similarly had no idea this was a thing and doesn't quite understand how it works.

1. Paychecks are auto deposited into separate checking accounts.

2. Recurring expenses are paid from one of those accounts; it doesn’t matter which one. There is no ledger to determine if each party pays their “share.”

3. Most payments are automated and paperless, coming from whomever bothered to set up the account initially.

4. Non-automated bills or expenses are paid when they occur, by whomever happens to get the mail/see the bill/grab their credit card first. We might discuss payment logistics for larger expenses, but usually we just do it.

5. Same goes for going out to dinner, etc.

6. Nobody scrutinizes the other partner’s spending, and we aren’t concerned about a “budget.” We’re extremely fortunate in this regard, as our income individually is more than enough to support both our spending habits and save for retirement. Since we both earn roughly the same, the second salary is effectively insurance, if something goes financially awry.

7. I don’t “hide” money/expenses from my wife, and I assume she’d say the same.

Make sense?

ETA It’s actually easier than creating and maintaining separate + joint accounts, apportioning expenses and worrying if some arbitrary level of “fairness” is achieved.

Yep, still doing all this. And it’s still easy. No fighting over finances, ever.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Thankfully, my wife and I have nearly identical preferences for living slightly below our means, so there's never been any need to worry about one another's spending, and neither of us needs to permission to buy stuff. So no reason to have separate accounts.

Funny, this is exactly how our marriage works. So no reason to create joint accounts.

 

[3C's]

Checking/savings, we both had our own through a local CU before we got married. I added her as a joint on mine but we kept both open and use them individually. I've opened several savings accounts for the higher rates and they're in my name only. She opened another savings account with a bank associated with her former employer that's only her. Then there's a long list of other accounts (funds, etc) that are a mix of joint and individual. I always paid the big bills like mortgage, car payments, etc and she paid a few smaller ones like the electric bill. She made about 70% of what I did which was still good money but never really had money left over so I think she's holding out on me. It's worked for us for going on 40 years so it's all good.

 

[FarFromHome]

Joint for 23 years. I havent actually logged in to our bank account for 20 years. I don't even know the passwords. She does all our finances.

 

[McBokonon]

We met in our thirties so haven’t bothered to open up joint accounts. I manage investments/retirement but otherwise, we just sort of naturally divvied up bills. She also is self-employed so there’s a lot managing expenses that she really just needs to manage herself. Works great, we have never once fought about money in our 13 years but we both do ok and there’s no kids.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Joint for 23 years. I havent actually logged in to our bank account for 20 years. I don't even know the passwords. She does all our finances.

Same. Mrs. Karamazov handles everything involving our Wells Fargo account, which means all of our regular finances. I handle everything at Fidelity (all long-term stuff).

 

[Terminalxylem]

We met in our thirties so haven’t bothered to open up joint accounts. I manage investments/retirement but otherwise, we just sort of naturally divvied up bills. She also is self-employed so there’s a lot managing expenses that she really just needs to manage herself. Works great, we have never once fought about money in our 13 years but we both do ok and there’s no kids.

The bolded is identical to my situation, including years married.

I guess if finances were tight, it might be logistically easier with joint accounts. Kids shouldn’t matter.

But that possible advantage is minuscule compared to any arrangement among partners with similar spending habits, who trust one another.

 

[McBokonon]

Kids shouldn’t matter

I mentioned that because kids are very expensive and mutual and require more collaboration than dinner and the landscapers and whatnot. I’m guessing we’d do things differently if we had them just so we can track better if anything.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Kids shouldn’t matter

I mentioned that because kids are very expensive and mutual and require more collaboration than dinner and the landscapers and whatnot. I’m guessing we’d do things differently if we had them just so we can track better if anything.

Yeah, I’m sure there’s an argument to be made, though I still think similar financial philosophy trumps all.

All the talk of disapproving what one’s spouse buys, unfettered trips with the “boys”, and other undisclosed spending, speaks to being on different pages wrt handling money, and not completely trusting one’s spouse.

Shared accounts won’t reconcile those differences, just as separate ones don’t inherently promote problems.

 

[Dwayne Hoover]

We met in our thirties so haven’t bothered to open up joint accounts. I manage investments/retirement but otherwise, we just sort of naturally divvied up bills. She also is self-employed so there’s a lot managing expenses that she really just needs to manage herself. Works great, we have never once fought about money in our 13 years but we both do ok and there’s no kids.

This sums up my situation. Works great

 

[Nugget]

I’d lean towards joint accounts being more popular in a first marriage. If someone decides to venture in for a second round, separate accounts make a lot of sense. IRAs and 401Ks are already separate, and depending on when you get married you likely have established savings and brokerage accounts. People manage their money differently, and forcing one party to change styles just seems like it would create more conflict.