Newlyweds will be snowed over by the sheer suggestion that bank accounts should be separate.  They have just been joined together as one under holy matrimony.  There is the joy of sharing life changing life experiences and the bride's determined to have the shared experience in banking as well.  The fact of the shared or joint bank accounts is that there will be less of a controversy about how the finances are being handled if there is one joint household account.  However, the one joint household account should also be supplemented by two personal bank accounts, one for the husband and one from the wife.  The personal bank accounts should be managed separately and the one joint household account should be shared and managed equally.

In most cases, the husband is leery about the wife spending or overspending on things that he thinks may not be necessary.  The wife can use her personal bank account for these purchases and the controversy will be lessened.  Also the wife can use her bank account as the husband to save at least 10% of her income in her personal account and another 10% of her income to the joint household account.  The expenditure of funds into savings in the three accounts will provide a vessel for the principal of paying yourself first.

The joint household account should have at least six months of take home pay as an emergency fund in the case of job loss.  The joint household account should only be accessed when the other has full knowledge that transactions are being performed.  The personal accounts, however, are in place so that each partner in the marriage can attend to their individual needs without having to consult with the other. 

This type of money management works to lessen the disagreements about what is being purchased and gives the couple a formula for savings that will work if the two adheres to how to access the accounts.  The percentages allotted to the accounts can be reduced if the family is sustaining off of one income of if there are other financial hardships going on. But the ideal of saving should be well entrenched in the financial planning of the family and there should be three bank accounts to keep the peace. A bank account held jointly is needed for the household and two personal accounts are needed for the husband and the wife to keep the quarrels down that can become in the long run grounds for a separation or a divorce.  To save your marriage from dissolution, management of these three accounts are essential for optimal financial planning.