Marriage today,finances seperate or merge together after I' Do's?

1. 61

   lexikaye6671277posted 12 years ago

   Marriage today,finances seperate or merge together after I' Do's?

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2. 92

   SylviaSkyposted 12 years ago

   Separate checking accounts are best for marital happiness and fairness. You will have to work out how to split the expenses and make sure expense payments are made in a timely way. Congratulations on your wedding.

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3. 76

   Moms-Secretposted 12 years ago

   having become a young widow, I can now offer a unique perspective.  If there is any amount of mistrust in the area of blending finances, perhaps counseling is needed.  I didn't mistrust my husband, but we did take advantage of our youth and we never got around to putting each others name on the accounts, updating beneficiaries, or making wills.  I am learning the hard and expensive way about probate and the other consequences to our actions. 
   
   Separate accounts are fine.  We used one account for the responsibilities and the other for life enjoyment and it worked for us.  Just be sure that no matter what you decide, you do the responsible thing early.  If you want completely separate accounts make sure you make them pay on death to each other so that you are not blocked out or loose it completely if the worst should happen.

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4. 80

   dashingscorpioposted 12 years ago

   There is no right way or wrong way. It all depends on the couple involved.
   Most marriages today involve both people having jobs. A lot of it based upon how bills are going to be paid. Some couples have a joint account and also maintain their individual accounts. Others divide the bills and pay them out of their individual accounts. My guess is there is less fighting about how money is spent when the couples don't have all their money in one account. It's also more difficult to surprise your spouse with a gift if they can see your debit charges online.
   
   Having said that there are people who don't "feel married" unless all of the money is one "pot". They believe keeping seperate accounts much like pre-nup agreements just make it easier to walk away. Ultimately when it's all said and done the most important thing is having both people "naturally agree" on how finances should be handled in the marriage. Moms-Secret makes a valid point. No matter which system you use it's a good idea to have your spouse listed as POD. Payable on death can save your loved one a lot of grief.

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