What is the smartest way to combine/handle finances/bills when 2 adults (mid 40's) marry.?

Answer 1

I will assume there is baggage,i.e, kids,etc.
so either get a joint account or two separate accounts plus one joint to pay joint bills out of

Answer 2

There is not really a "best" way. You have to consider your feelings about money and your partner's feelings about money. But there are several ways you can do it:

1. Throw everything into a pot, save some, donate some, pay bills and split the remainder evenly.
2. Split the bills evenly (if the bills total $2000, you each pay $1000), each pay half and then keep what is leftover from their respective paychecks.
3. Divide the bills into two stacks and each of you is responsible for one stack, you get to keep what is leftover from their paycheck.
4. You split the "utility" bills in half and each is responsible for their own debt payments and keeps whatever is leftover from their paycheck.

The problems arise when one partner makes substantially more than the other or has more debt than the other. You have to work out your feelings about those issues before you decide. It might work best to use a little from each idea.

Answer 3

Here's what we did, and it works pretty good, I think, assuming you both are working.

She has a personal account
I have a personal account
We have a joint account that pays all household bills, mortgage, gifts, nights out and whatever else we agree that are shared expenses. Tally those expenses up and we each contribute 50% per month, although the percentage could change if incomes were very disparate.
We also have a joint Credit Card that gets paid from that account. Our personal accounts are used at our individual descretion.
Fortunately, we both handle money in a similar way and both see the joint account as the priority...excess goes into our personal accounts.

Answer 4

In my recent marriage (M-44 F-36) we both had bills, homes, car notes and loans. We originally decided to keep most bills seperate as many were to be paid off or were associated with our seperate homes. Once I sold my home the bills associated with that went away and therefore it didn't make much sense to consolidate those into our financial budget. We also kept seperate those notes that we would pay off in short order of 6 months or less (Car, truck, personal loans, etc).

We then consolidated all our bills and bank accounts. Our savings were kept separate as we had kids from previous marriages and college funds were co-mingled with standard savings. When we sold my wifes home and bought a home together it was at that point that we consolidated the remaining accounts.

I suggest that you two make a list of all accounts, bills, loans, etc. and then work out the plan ahead of time as to when and what to consolidate. However, I would highly suggest you work towards consolidating EVERYTHING in less than two years.

Financial disagreements are a major cause of divorce and the sooner the accounts are consolidated, the sooner you will be working as a team as a marriage should be.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

Well, I am married 10 years and just give every paycheck to my wife, she works at a bank and pays the bills. I even used to give her some of my side work money before my accident, but I always had my stash in the coffee can in the basement. When I got hurt and was out of work before workers comp finally took responsiability it was a good thing to have, I never counted it.. I had near 17 grand... Not bad. I hope someday I will heal up enough to return to my trade.. Good Luck Try not to let a stupid thing such as money ruin a good thing,,,

Answer 6

I'm in mid 40's and have been happily married for over 20 years. My wife and I really don't have anything that we call our own financially. Everything we earn, no matter how much comes from each of us, goes to wherever it is needed. every few years we trade off the responsibility of paying bills. That helps keep us humble. We talk about priorities and respect each others views on financial responsibility. We both like to spend too much too. Its all good here. I can't imagine trying to deal with the stress of splitting everything down the middle. Good luck

Answer 7

Is she probable jealous of the you and your happiness? some people seem to think of that by using fact they're unhappy then the entire international around them should be unhappy besides. it somewhat isn't any longer a undesirable ingredient for a guy to be single at that age - and consistent with danger he in no way married by using fact he replaced into clever sufficient to be sure he wasn't waiting or he wasn't with the "appropriate" person. in case you sense that that's suited for you - then choose for it. See the place the relationship takes you. This different woman must be jealous of the reality that he desires to be with you or which you have stumbled on somebody to be with. it must be that she replaced into secretly hoping he could start up noticing/liking her and feels which you're "shifting in" on something she concept she had.

Answer 8

Keep things seperate for the first couple of years, until you can analysis how your spouse handles his/her finances, you will not want to combine it if that person has a lot of debt and doesn't manage their money smartly. Do not trust someone else with your financial planning, especially at your age, you have retirement to look forward to.

Answer 9

If you are marrying the person then you must love, trust, and respect them. You put your money into joint accounts only, and you handle your finances together. God declared you a union. If you have suspicions that you want to "hold on" to your own money then maybe you shouldn't be marrying this person.

Answer 10

Sounds like a nuisance, but I recommend 4 separate accounts. Your money, your spouses money, a joint checking where either one can sign and a joint checking where both must sign. Then, work out how much of each paycheck each one contributes to the two joint accounts, then they keep the rest in their own account.

Lotta work to set up, but keeps the boundaries clear.

Good luck

Answer 11

My wife and I set up 3 accounts: Hers, Mine, and Ours. We figured out our monthly expenses and direct deposited a percentage of each paycheck into OUR account to cover them. The remainder went into our indiviual accounts. That way, we could pay the monthly bills from OUR account, but still have our own money to buy whatever we wanted for ourselves. That way I didn't feel guilty buying something off eBay because it was my money.