One shared account versus separate accounts

Jazzy1 said:
How do you feel about couples combining all their money into one shared account versus keeping separate accounts?
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Not a good idea. (Couple might breakup up and then who gets what argument) Each have a separate account, and have a separate account set aside in which each equally contributes, for paying for household expenses. :unsure:
 

When I was much younger I could adapt to the sharing of accountsā€¦until my marriages imploded. The concept was greatā€¦the application decidedly risky. Now I am unmarried but in a very long term relationshipā€¦.my bills are separate, as are my accounts. It offers much peace of mind. My guyā€™s assets far exceed mineā€¦but I know what I know every day. And that is priceless.
 
Ron and I have separate checking and savings accounts, and also a joint checking account for household stuff.

Having been financially abused by my ex, and then taken again for about $30,000 in a platonic relationship with a man Iā€™d known and trusted for 40 years, I decided never again to commingle funds.
 
We had a joint checking account but two checkbooks. Part of the balance was in my wife's checkbook and the rest in mine. The 2 checkbooks added together = the total balance in the one checking account.

I don't see that it matters because if the marriage had dissolved, all funds on deposit (except those owned separately prior to the marriage - zero in our case) are considered community property in Texas, and generally those funds are divided 50/50 if both partners in the marriage work and contribute more or less equally.
 
we had shared accounts that we paid the bills on.
i always had a rainy day account of my own. i did need it from time to time. now i live on my own and i still have that rainy day account.
i also have the last birthday card my parents ever gave me with a crisp $100 bill. i don't know if i will ever spend it. i smile every time i see it.
 
When I was married to the agent we had one account but I only did volunteering and for 30 yrs did not get paid. The money was handled by me. He got money when he asked for it. He also had an account from his job that was separate. I gave myself an account with my favorite stock broker at Raymond James and built a small fortune. When we divorced in 2007 I was secure. I never asked for a settlement and he never knew why.
 
Separate, but visible to each other.

I pay the 'big' bills.

She pays her little ones. Boscovs, etc.

Her pay isn't as steady as mine, and I'll transfer $500 every so often just to give her a cushion.

As far as savings, we only have one, but I don't recall her ever putting anything into it. LOL.
 
In the first marriage having a shared account, which he insisted on, meant heā€™d overdraft it. My name was on that account too. We both worked but he spent like it was all his and I pinched pennies for the household funds.

Second marriage, we both have our own accounts. Expenses are shared proportionately.
 
My parents had joint and separate accounts. My mother once told me "Never let a man know what you've got". I think she meant moneywise, at least during that conversation. :) If a couple is on the same page financially, both have good money sense and are trustworthy, then joint accounts are nice, but that isn't always the case. I had a supervisor who married a man she had worked with. They were both feds. Their relationship worked well until after the marriage. Not long after, he withdrew $5,000 from their joint account without telling her. She was furious when she found out.

I had an online friend who's husband was withdrawing large amounts from their accounts and refused to explain why. After seeking advice from members of our special group (we had all been on Eons together), she followed our advice and divorced him. There were other issues as well, however. On the other hand, my friend's parents invested together, enjoyed a secure retirement and were even able to help their two adult children.

I used to tease my second husband, may he R.I.P., by telling him he must've gone to the "Psycho School of Money Management". It was odd because every since before I knew him, he owned a fairly successful retail business for decades. He was great at math, but didn't have the money sense to hold on to what he made or get get the most bang for his buck. He found unnecessary ways to spend, started businesses that were destined to fail and loaned out so much money that it was ridiculous. Of course he rarely got any of it back. No way would I have opened a joint account with him.
 
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As Diva said it is largely dependent on the money handling ability of spouse.

We have our joint account funded by his job. We both have access to.
I have my account funded by my work and investments and such. only I and a son have access to. We paid bills out of both accounts.

He knows I have the good money handling skills and paid off house early / invested well and have a good emergency fund and so on.
If I had let him have access, I could not imagine where we would be or if we ever could retire.
It would be one thing if he had anything to show for his spending, like a spouse who buys cars or hobby stuff.

To sum it up he has always made much more then I have, and yet in retirement accounts and investments I have 3 times as much makes no sense how he does not have a bigger amount set away.
This worked for us. We have been together for 42 years.

My grandma always told me to have a savings of what she called "Mad Money'
 
Wife and I always had joint account. I'm Scottish, she's Polish, and we would fight each other to be the first to pick up the penny on the sidewalk.:):) Our retirement accounts, of course, are separate, and I invest more conservatively than the wife. We've always agreed on money matters --- always talked about what we needed to spend money on and what we did not.
 
^^ in my opinion, for us it works better having separate accounts. they are linked and we bot h have access t o each others but we can also have our own savings and spendings for our own things - we also have a joint account for 'big savings' that we both contribute to.
 
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