| Home > Let's Buzz > IM$avvy Managing Life Events > Tying the Knot |
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| Administrator |
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| Administrator Posts: 30 | One of the first issues that married couples encounter is the payment of shared expenses. Who pays what from where? If both husband and wife are working, how should expenses be split? If only one party is working full-time, who makes the financial decisions? Should a joint account be setup with fixed monthly contributions from both parties? Who administers this account? If separate bank accounts are maintained, should couples be transparent about how much they have? Should wives keep their 'secret' bank account and do husbands have a right to keep one too? If one party is eating into his/her own savings, do the other spouse have a say in curbing expenditure? How should married couples plan for their retirement? These are just some pertinent questions you will need to ask and have answers to as you plan towards your big day. | ||
| rogue |
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| Regular Posts: 60 | Personally merging finances with my husband when we got married was never an issue. As he is really clueless about his finances preferring to just spend than to manage and I am the one who is more savvy with dollars and cents, I took over the management of all our bank accounts, including his personal savings. Initially we started out with a joint bank account to pay household and childcare bills but it became quite a hassle to have to transfer money to that account every month. In the end, we listed out the monthly fixed expenses and we both took charge of some items, splitting it 50/50 although he earns slightly more than me. We pay these items through our own bank account. Every month when pay comes in, I transfer a portion of our pay into a separate savings account which is only to be used as emergency funds, retirement or investments as deem fit. (Naturally only I have access to this account since my hubby doesn't really care - just need to report status once in awhile) And because only I have access to this account, I don't see a need to hoard a 'secret' account. Before either of us decides on any big purchase item, ie more than $100, we always consult each other. I think it's helpful because spending tends to be irrational and if either one of us don't agree, we don't get it and somehow we never seem to miss it anyway. As for retirement planning, it's just about summing up for needs for an additional mouth but it allows more flexibility and synergy since we build our savings together and two joint persons need less than two separate individuals. Also it means being able to stagger when to retire. However I haven't really put much thought into what happens in worse case scenario of divorce or death/disability. | ||
| droolby |
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| Member Posts: 7 Location: London | Quote: Administrator - 2010-07-28 4:04 PM One of the first issues that married couples encounter is the payment of shared expenses. Who pays what from where? If both husband and wife are working, how should expenses be split? Both should try to make equal contribution towards all the expenses of household. If only one party is working full-time, who makes the financial decisions? Should a joint account be setup with fixed monthly contributions from both parties? Who administers this account? Mutually acceptable financial decisions should be there with shared account administered collectively(both). If separate bank accounts are maintained, should couples be transparent about how much they have? Should wives keep their 'secret' bank account and do husbands have a right to keep one too? No separate accounts! If one party is eating into his/her own savings, do the other spouse have a say in curbing expenditure? How should married couples plan for their retirement? These are just some pertinent questions you will need to ask and have answers to as you plan towards your big day. One should better follow the logic of spending and curbing same goes for retirement planning. | ||
| raulruse |
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| New User Posts: 4 | I will try to follow your advice. Both should contribute to the family finance where is possible. ________________________________________________________ finance | ||
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