NC for this, as could be outing when added to other posts. Naice ham, pom bears, cancel the cheque, snapped and farted etc.
Kind of inspired by another thread which got me thinking, but not a TAAT. I'm not even on that one, just skim read it earlier.
Right, this is a bit...complicated.
I'm a SAHM. I am a US citizen, but also hold a British passport now.
I'm married to a Brit and we live in the UK.
We have never had a joint account, as we just never got round to it and were happy enough to keep everything separate while we were both working (pre dc). DH pays me an allowance (which I appreciate, sounds a bit draconian). However, there is a good reason for this.
If we open a joint account, I have to report all the income going into this account to the IRS. A fun quirk of the US tax system is that all its citizens, have to report, and sometimes pay tax on, all their income and bank accounts, investments etc, no matter where they live.
I currently just report my own accounts, because, according to my accountant, they aren't actually interested in what my DH earns, they are only interested in what is in MY accounts. But obviously, a joint account would still be one of my accounts, so this might lead to us having to pay tax to the IRS every year, which seems a bit unfair, seeing as the only person in our household who is earning any income, has never lived in the usa and certainly never worked there and he already pays tax in the UK. I spoke to a financial advisor briefly, who said it was a good idea go keep finances fairly separate. Unfortunately, none of them will advise me in an official capacity, (I have asked quite a few of them), as they are only interesting in people with half a million dollars or more to play with, or else they won't touch US citizens living abroad with a barge pole, as it is a total minefield.
Anyway, I received some money, £15k or so, recently. Yes, I reported it all to my accountant and the IRS! £15k is what I have left. Dh and I were discussing what to do with it. He wants to put it into the mortgage, but I want to keep it in savings for myself, seeing as I don't have access to the quite large amount he has saved while working. We both own our house and both names are on the mortgage. He obviously pays all bills, including the mortgage.
I have some savings already, so this would be to add to it. But, I can't put into a personal pension, or at least, I have to be very careful which personal pension I choose, as some are seen by the IRS as a sneaky way of hiding assets from them, for which they may tax me punitively and my understanding is that it would potentially be a lot of money! Again I can't ask for help from a professional really, as none are able to help me. So my savings are all I have for my old age at present. I'm not anywhere near retirement age yet, but still. I can put into an employer pension scheme and will do that if and when I start working.
If it matters, our dc is due to start childcare in a few weeks and I'm planning to look for work, but obviously this isn't the best time to be job hunting! I'm also retraining and not planning to stay a SAHM forever, by any stretch. Planning two days childcare till next year, increasing after that when dc is a bit older, so I can work four and a half days a week and hopefully pay into pension etc.
AIBU to ask to hang on to this money for my savings? Perfectly willing to accept I am! It was just the other thread with all the "you must have access to your DH's money if you're a SAHM" warnings, got me a bit worried.