Married couples......do you have joint or separate bank accounts?

Answer 1

One question that a lot of my friends and family are asking me ALL THE TIME is: "Why is marriage on the decline?" Well there are a zillion answers but I'm going to give one based on this question. Safety nets. Now I'm going to sound like I'm ranting and raving here but this has to be said... IT IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS THAT MARRIED COUPLES HAVE SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNTS!!!!. Are you kidding me?? You're MARRIED for Heaven's sake. Where's the trust?? Where's the risk?? Where's the unity??When I ask couples these questions the answers I get are "Well he/she is irresponsible with the money" or my favorite "In case anything happens." In case anything happens??!! Prenuptual agreements, hyphenated last names (strictly for the purpose of easily going back to their maiden name), and separate bank accounts?? It's like people expect to get divorced. They're not even aware that they're not giving marriage an honest chance. They go out and get these "safety nets" so they can be caught if and when they fall.

When spouses engage in this type of behavior, it LITERALLY tells the other spouse that you don't truly believe in the marriage. If they did, they'd both go "all in" without even thinking about it...almost like they the unbeatable hand of a Royal Flush in poker. Obviously nobody gets a "royal flush" when it comes to relationships...in fact most of us get a face card or two, a 5 of hearts, and a 6 of clubs (I'm a huge poker fan so please excuse the analogy). But if couples aren't willing to "bet the farm" on their relationship before the "cards are even dealt", there's no use in even "sitting at the table." (okay I know I've gone too far with the poker metaphors, I'll stop now :-))

Love is risky, dangerous, and potentially devestating. And those are the reasons it's the most wonderful thing in the world. To know that someone is willing to risk everything, their emotions, their money, their lives, everything to be with you is absolutely magical...it literally gives me chill bumps thinking about it. But, again, if you don't even go as far as getting a joint bank account (without having additional separate bank accounts or other stashes of money) then don't even "walk into the casino." (I'm sorry, I had to do it :-))

Answer 2

Separate - but not totally. We each have our own accounts, a portion (the majority) of his paycheck is deposited into my account weekly to be used towards bills. I pay all the monthly bills out of my account. We have a joint account that was originally intended for that purpose, but balancing 2 accounts on a weekly basis was a pain, so I just pay the bills out of mine. (Besides, that's the one with the debit card number I have memorized - easier to read that over the phone or type online to pay a bill). The joint account is now used for larger deposits (when we refinanced and tax returns/bonuses) and to pay the "extras" - unexpected car repairs, larger purchases for the house, stuff like that. All 3 accounts are through the same bank and linked, so we both have access to all. We tried a joint account, but one of us was always forgetting to tell the other about an ATM withdrawal, and we wound up with WAY too many NSF fees.

Answer 3

My ex-wife and I had a joint account, but in my next relationship, I will request BOTH joint and separate accounts. I think it's important to have both; a joint account for shared expenses, and separate accounts for individual ones. Maybe agree to put a certain percentage of each of your paychecks into the joint account to pay for the shared bills, and leave the rest in the separate accounts.

Answer 4

Depends on the couple and depends on the salaries that you both earn. I've always had a joint account with my hubby but then he earns more than me so maybe I'm not as stupid as people think!!!!. Other couples I known have separate accounts and it seems to work for them but if either needs some money they have to ask, beg or borrow from their spouse and to me that seems strange. You go into marriage as a joint committment. You have a mortgate, kids, pets, etc as joint so why not have the bank account joint as well. Just my opinion though. Works for me.

Answer 5

We have both, he has a separate acccount...I have a separate account with a different Bank and we have a JOINT account... Its best to do this for credit and financial independance. In case something ever happens...and heaven forbbid he has to file bankruptcy or something... I won't be affected...at least in the State of GA thats how it is. But we deposit spending money in each of our individual accounts and use our Joint account for our house,bills,and anything that's a "fixed" bill and not entertainment...it helps us save money that way.

Answer 6

Joint savings and we each have our own checking account. I think it is funny when people think it is wrong to have separate accounts, I guess they like to keep track of every little damn thing their spouse purchases.

Oh yeah- also just so you all know, my husband and I trust each other completely, trust has nothing to do with having separate checking accounts. I would say there is less trust when people have a joint account. It seems like they dont trust their spouse with money, and thinks he will buy things not "permitted" by you. Also, we dont fight over $$. We know that all the money belongs to the both of us. I will pay for lunch when we go out, he will pay for dinner, I pay for groceries, he pays the bills. It just works.

Answer 7

Both. OUr savings and the bulk of our money is in our joint account. That's the account we pay our bills out of and save for retirement. But we also each have separate accounts we use for our own stuff that we dont want to have to be accountable to one another for. So if I want to get my nails done for $60/month, I use it out of my own account and there are no questions asked. We set aside a certain amount every month and that is what goes in our separate accounts for play money. And it is always no questions asked. But once the allowance for that month is gone, it's gone!

Answer 8

We have joint accounts. We merged our funds as soon as we moved in together, which was a year before we became engaged. If we want to spend money on our hobbies or our friends, we do, up to a limit, without having to let the other person know we're spending money. If we're going to spend several hundred dollars, it's just courtesy to check with the other person. By the way - Neither of us has ever told the other they could not spend money on something.

Answer 9

Joint.

Answer 10

We have a joint account for most of our needs like food, household, bills, etc. At the same time 15% of each salary goes to our individual bank accounts so that each of us could spend it for hobbies, presents for friends or whatever you feel like and you don't want to get approval from your spouse. It works well!