Joint checking/savings

BeachBaby516 · June 2015

Hi everyone I'm mostly a lurker but have read some great recommendations from this group. I'm newly married and I was wondering how everyone sets up their accounts? Are they all joint or some separate checking? Same for savings...how many do you have and are they all joint? We both currently have Chase. Thank you in advance for your help!

FirstMate06 · June 2015

We have one shared checking account that we have our paychecks both directly deposited to, one shared savings account that we fund from the shared checking account, and one shared investment account.

We both still have our old separate checking accounts from before we were married but rarely/never use them. The money in those is our E-fund and readily accessible. We also both have separate IRA/401k accounts through our employers. I also have an old savings account from before we were married that we turned into our house DP savings account.

It sounds like we have a lot of different accounts now that I've typed it out but we use one national bank and one credit union that cover all of those accounts so it's pretty easy to track everything.

simplyelise · June 2015

Welcome! We've got another thread going right now actually that has people sharing what and how many accounts they have (joint and separate): http://forums.thenest.com/discussion/12025253/im-new-how-many-is-too-much

I also remember a good thread where you'll get a ton of points of view on starting out finances as a newlywed: http://forums.thenest.com/discussion/12025076/newlyweds-and-finances

I don't want to dissuade you from asking more questions though! But you can probably find the answer to your above questions in those two recent threads. But let us know if there are some other questions too!

hoffse · June 2015

We keep everything joint that we can. Other couples differ with this, but it's just easier for us than trying to keep things separate while still being proportional in our share of the household expenses.

Besides, even if we kept stuff separate H would absolutely bail me out financially if I needed it and vice versa. So it seems unnecessary to keep stuff separate in our case. At the end of the day we view our household as a single unit, and we both have jobs that allow us to contribute to those expenses that our household generates.

We actually don't even have separate blow/fun/no judgment accounts. We figure that any dollar I make H is entitled to and any dollar he makes I'm entitled to. It takes a little practice to not resent your spouse's "unnecessary expenses" (sneeze: golf... to be fair, H would probably say "shoes"), but again - in the aggregate, it doesn't really matter which one of us spends it, as long as we don't go overboard as a couple.

H and I both tend to take a 30,000 ft view of money though. We try to budget a year out so we know what large goals we can afford to accomplish in the next 6-12 months, and we don't really sweat the day-to-day expenses as long as our bigger goals are still on track. I know we could save a lot more if we counted our pennies better or if we kept to really strict budget ceilings, but we don't do that. And honestly, we're fine with it, because our big picture is generally where we want it to be and our goals have been on track. I used to be a lot stricter with monitoring the day-to-day, and it just led to feelings of guilt and stress whenever I didn't get our budget 100% right.

dalm0m · June 2015

We have always had a joint checking & saving account which is our primary account. The bulk of the money goes in there. However, we both have separate accounts too. His over time & my PT job money go in those. It's psychological but I woudl feel weird buying him a present with his / our money.

We also have multiple separate retir4ement accounts. we married later in life so we each have accounts from before marriage & then we have new ones since we were married.

MommyLiberty5013 · June 2015

We also keep everything that we can joint.

One thing to consider when deciding whether to go joint or separate is that if one of you dies or cannot use the bank due to incapacitation, and the other one is not on the account, the bank will NOT give the spouse access to the account information and/or money UNTIL they have received proper, legal documentation of death or power of attorney.

For example, if DH had a sole checking and he died in a plane crash, even though I am his wife, I would not be legally entitled to the money in the account until either I or his estate provided legal documents that I was indeed entitled to the balance in the account. Major PITB if I needed the money and couldn't get to it, but completely justifiable and reasonable position for banks to take (protecting themselves and their customers from fraud).

vlagrl29 · June 2015

we keep everything that we can joint except for business accounts and IRA's. It just makes it so much easier in the event if one of the spouses passes away that you can access money without the stress of waiting for a death certificate. sorry to be morbid but it's true.

vlagrl29 · June 2015

MommyLiberty5013 said:

We also keep everything that we can joint.
One thing to consider when deciding whether to go joint or separate is that if one of you dies or cannot use the bank due to incapacitation, and the other one is not on the account, the bank will NOT give the spouse access to the account information and/or money UNTIL they have received proper, legal documentation of death or power of attorney.
For example, if DH had a sole checking and he died in a plane crash, even though I am his wife, I would not be legally entitled to the money in the account until either I or his estate provided legal documents that I was indeed entitled to the balance in the account. Major PITB if I needed the money and couldn't get to it, but completely justifiable and reasonable position for banks to take (protecting themselves and their customers from fraud).

so true! otherwise you have to withdrawal x amount of money everyday from his account thru the ATM until they read the obits and lock down his account.

als1982 · June 2015

Our primary is joint but we also have separate accounts for our individual 'mad money.' We each get $300 a month transferred here to use however we wish.

BeachBaby516 · June 2015

Thank you ladies! I apologize for posting something that has been asked multiple times as I finally used the search button after the fact!

simplyelise · June 2015

BeachBaby516 said:

Thank you ladies! I apologize for posting something that has been asked multiple times as I finally used the search button after the fact!

No worries at all! And it doesn't hurt to answer similar questions regularly because some people chime in on one but not the other. Sometimes too we change how we do things or life circumstances force changes.

For the record, DH and I have everything joint (1 checking, 2 savings, and a CC we use for gas and pay off immediately) because we just view all our money jointly. Our only fun money is $60 cash each. But we're following a strict budget right now while paying off debt, so we are watching every penny.

Joint checking/savings

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