Comments on: Joint Accounts

By: Florida Online Divorce

Florida Online Divorce — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:31:32 +0000

To have joint accounts for husband and wife is very critical condition during the division of assets during divorce.

By: Passing the week. . . | the taxguy

Passing the week. . . | the taxguy — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:47:44 +0000

[...] Ashley over at Wide Open Wallet adds more information about Joint Accounts [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:03:05 +0000

I have been burned by having a joint account with a girlfriend in the past and that has left me kind of resistant to having one again. The biggest problem was that neither of us had (or even knew of) good financial habits. No budgets were written and we both just used funds as if they were always going to be there.

Knowing now what I did not know then I may be more open to the idea with the right person, after I’m married….

By: Weekly Roundup and Carnivals | LivingAlmostLarge

Weekly Roundup and Carnivals | LivingAlmostLarge — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:03:20 +0000

[...] at WideOpenWallet tells us about her experience with “Joint Accounts” in response [...]

By: Fabulously Broke

Fabulously Broke — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:22:50 +0000

BF and I now keep separate accounts. With a future family, we may do a joint account + separate accounts and just transfer in cash…

I don’t like mixing the two because he makes much more than me and I want things fair where we pay 50/50…

If it were reversed, I’d feel resentful for paying more.. so 50/50 is fair

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:30:27 +0000

My husband and I have joint accounts for everything except retirement, which are legally required to be separate. Trying to cope with all our bills with separate accounts would be more trouble than it would be worth.
We agreed to have a limit on how much either of us could spend without discussing the expenditure first. The limit has grown as our incomes have grown. For example, when we first got married, we agreed to discuss any expense over $75 before making the purchase. Now, we discuss any expense over $200 before making the purchase. This way, there’s no hiding expenses or resentment over large purchases.

By: Angie

Angie — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:29:27 +0000

I agree with you whole-heartedly. I can’t imagine not considering all money “our” money. DH does have a separate account for his hobbies, but it has both of our names on the account and it is only separated because it’s easier for him to reconcile it that way. We’ve gone through patches in our marriage where I’ve made more money, but typically he’s made more money (like now - I’m a SAHM!) and it’s been reassuring to know that neither of us is comparing paystubs to see who has to pay more of the bills that month.

By: Slinky

Slinky — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:05:33 +0000

First a quote: “Let there be spaces in your togetherness.”

How can you say “This is our house, our cars, our TV, our kids.” and then say “That is your money, and this is my money.” “Those are your bills, these are my bills.”

– The same way you say these are my shoes, my clothes, those are your clothes, your shoes. We are separate people who walk the same path. It’s ours if we both use it, yours if only one does.

It seems like there would be so much time and effort making sure everything is fair. And that eventually is going to build resentment. Some is going to feel slighted. It seems inevitable.

– Fair is whatever you agree is fair. If there is a disagreement, as with your friends, it should be discussed and a compromise found…just like any other disagreement in your marriage. When these discussions are not had, of course there’s resentment! For your friends I would suggest each pay a percentage equal to the percentage that is their own income relative to their total income. (ie, she makes 40% of their combined income, she pays 40% of expenses)

But I think those horror stories comes more from choosing the wrong spouse than having joint accounts.

– Yes they do…and so do the stories about couples with separate finances who don’t trust each other, etc.

How can you say “you are not welcome to these resources” to your spouse?

– You can’t and you don’t. Separate is apart, not alone. We plan how to reach our goals and how to cope when things get tough together. We just handle our own individual day-to-day expenses ourselves.

By: JB

JB — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:09:50 +0000

I too, have to agree with you. We are a family, and this is our family’s money, and this is what our family is going to do with our money is how our household looks at it. There are no individuals… of course we each do have a separate account where we keep our “spending” money… but there’s rarely any money in those, and we’ve almost made the switch to just using cash for any spending situations.

By: neimanmarxist

neimanmarxist — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:16:16 +0000

I agree; separate accounts would be really alienating. How can you share everything and not share money? What would the feeling of one person “having more money” breed? I can’t imagine.