Money

[londonscalling]

I'm just wondering what people think is the best way to organise money when they are married. Is it best to keep your money separate but have a joint account for bills? What happens then if one earns a lot more than the other? Does one end up with a lot of savings and the other doesn't? Alternatively would you have just one joint account that both salaries go into and you just share everything? Thanks.

One pot joint account joint savings op that's what we do

We have separate accounts then we transfer into the joint for bills

I'd never had one joint account for everything.

We have a joint account we both put in to each month. I put in more as I earn more.

My savings are completely separate. He knows about them but can not access them, which is the same for me and his savings.

If you're married, separate savings pots are still marital assets, so not sure what the reasoning is?

I personally think a joint current account that the bills go out of, plus grocery money, that you both pay into proportionately is a good way of managing household finances. While having individual accounts for spends. Ideally you'd both pay into savings, pensions, and for childcare/dc's stuff proportionately, leaving you whatever left to share between you.

If you have similar attitudes and goals regarding money, it really helps.

I think it's really weird for one side of a partnership to be a lot better off than the other.

Separate accounts and savings. Transfer money into a joint account to cover bills and food.

Joint account for shared spends - ie mortgage and bills, food etc.

We set up a budget for our shared outgoings and contribute based on earnings. I earn more so put more in.

Both are left with personal money

Joint account where all money is paid in. Bills are paid. Then the left over is split between joint savings, personal savings, money for children and personal spends. One thing we have never argued over is money.

My wife and i earn similar, my pay is for our monthly living costs, leaving a small amount leftover for me to do what i want with. My wife uses hers for child minder costs and savings, leaving her a small amount leftover for her to do what she wants with.

I never had a joint account with my ExH.
Thank goodness as he was utterly crap with money.

But..... to make everything fair, joint account where both salaries go.
Bills, mortgage, food etc.... come out of that.
An agreed amount goes into a separate savings account.
The balance is split evenly into your own separate accounts to do with as you want.

That doesn't work for everyone though.

We have a joint current account and savings. Personally don’t see the point of having separate, regardless of income. Over the years I’ve earned more at times and now DH earns more. We mostly spend excess cash after bills and savings on the kids or house anyway.

There is no right or wrong.
It depends on what you earn, what your spending habits are.
DP and I have children together but no joint finances. He pays everything except the food shopping and cleaner, he has more disposable money than me but likes to spend on gadgets and clothes, I don't especially. If I wanted him to pay for anything he would.
Works for us.

We both earn our own money which is pod into our own accounts. We have a joint account for bills etc that we contribute 50/50 to each month.

Either way can work, although as mentioned before I think it would be a strain on a relationship if one partner was making loads of money and keeping it while the other was struggling.

I think it tends to be different when you have children. As two childless working people, you each have the time available to work enough for whatever you want out of your own life. With a child, one of both partners, in varying amounts, has to sacrifice some of that time for raising the family. It's difficult to see how separate finances can work then. Really, a family is by definition a communist entity so if you're not prepared to be communist about what everybody gets out of it, you're not really taking on what it means.

We went through this change after kids were born and the joint account gradually morphed from somethng that was there to handle bills to the basis of everything. One thing that we found vital though, was budgeting carefully for what would be needed to cover all expenses, and then allowing a certain amount per week for each of us to be absolutely our own, to with as we please that the other partner had no say over. This is vital to maintaining any sense of independence and self actualisation while married. I don't know how people manage when every single penny spent has to satisfy the scrutiny of both parties, with their different sets of value and priorities.

Joint account for shared spends such as mortgage, bills, food etc.

We put in a proportionate amount based on our salaries.

We have money in our own accounts, but we consider everything joint regardless so if one of us needed money from the other it would be freely given.

As soon as I return from maternity leave however we will put the majority of both salaries in the joint account and leave ourselves with the same set amount for 'fun' money.

Having separate savings isn't about having more than the other person should we split up.

I like having my savings in my own account. It's mine. I've earned it. I've worked hard for it. It's not half someone else's contribution. I will never have to ask before buying something, even just out of courtesy. The same with his savings.

My husband knows if he was ever struggling, it's there, and he doesn't need to worry.

Joint account for bills, which we pay into proportionate to our incomes, but everything else goes into our personal accounts. I have no idea how much dh has in his personal account or what he spends it on and he has no idea what I have. It's much easier that way and I don't have to worry about any surprise debits coming through because the only one spending my money is me. I like having my own money.

We have separate accounts and one joint where we pay 50/50. I think we if we got married we would turn the joint account into our main account and then take a small personal allowance from it each. 90% of our spending is joint but I'd never feel comfortable completely giving up an account in my name.

We don’t have a joint account at all but as we run a business together it’s a bit different. All the income comes in to the business account, I then transfer all the bills money that is non business including rent plus around £750 for personal over to me , I then pay husband a set amount a month over as salary and the only bills that come off it at his end are car loan and car expenses, Netflix and gym. He prefers it this way too as he knows what goes in is his to do whatever and no bills get forgotten about. Appreciate that it’s an unusual situation

I had a joint account for all of my marriage. I did have separate savings in my name (isa & standard as I'm basic rate tax) which came in handy when we split.

Not sure yet what dp and I will do, still at the house buying stage, probably should discuss. Not sure we will marry as too old for kids. With instant transfers not as important now as 20 years ago

My preference is to have a joint account for bills, basically joint living expenses and have separate accounts for personal expenses.

Adjust the contribution to the joint account (and, if necessary, transfers between the personal accounts) so that you have roughly equally spending money.

This gives me an idea of what my fixed living expenses are: that's my contribution to the housekeeping. Savings go out out my personal account as soon as my salary arrives, so that the level of my current account tells me roughly how much spending money I have left.

If the household account starts to build up , we usually plan a holiday or meal out or other treat. It's fun to say ' oh, let's have the household take us out for a meal'. Likewise, if it starts to run low, we can decide to top it up or go easy on it for a while.

Same goes for the personal account.

If there was just one account, I don't think I would have that overview and would cede from spending recklessly to never affording any treats.

If incomes were very different, I suppose I might move over to have one basic account, from which bills, savings etc were funded and which then fed equally amounts into a personal account each.

@okiedokie

Not sure we will marry as too old for kids.

Have a look at the thresholds for inheritance tax, before you decide finally whether to get married. I worked out the tax bill for me. If He left me everything, I would need to pay inheritance tax on everything about £325k

So I would have to pay tax just to stay in my own home which was jointly paid for, if we were not married. There are now additional reliefs for the primary residence but only if it is left 'family'.

There is no tax to pay on inheritance from a spouse.

May I also take this opportunity to encourage you to make wills, if you are thinking of buying a house together.

Thanks everyone. My husband and I have always had a joint account. However, we are having lots of work done at home
so want to rein in our usual spending for a while. With a joint account it can sometimes be a bit tricky to keep an eye on our spending when you're both dipping into it, so wondered if there was a better solution for the time being.