Wedding Blog

i know it’s counterintuitive, but it might be simpler to have more accounts.

for example, you could each have an account for discretionary funds which you can spend as you like (mine usually gets spent on clothes, his gets spent on gadgets).

then you could also setup an account that gets used for joint stuff like bills, rent, etc. you might also want an account that you can use to save up for stuff like vacations, house, etc.

although the credit union might provide a good savings account rate, it probably doesn’t beat online savings accounts rates. ING and HSBC direct are good examples. they offer rates of 4-5% and funds are easily accessible through online transfers. they’re typically available within 3-4 business days.

you probably want to set up an investment account for your fiance as well, so that he also has an IRA. having an IRA allows you to defer taxes paid on your current income and it allows withdrawals under certain circumstances, so you might want to keep it in mind if you’re thinking your rainy day fund would be used for emergencies that qualify as IRA withdrawals.

I’m a control freak, and he’s a spending freak. To keep things simple for us, we have my checking and savings account and a joint savings account. HA! I’m mean. No, but really, he does NOT know how to manage money so that’s why it’s all mostly under my name. And we started doing that as soon as we moved in together.

I agree, make sure you have at least one or 2 accounts solely in your name. For YOUR money. Sure you can contribute to the KIWI joint/household account for all those joint expenses and the joint KIWI family future, but you deserve to keep what’s yours.
Just make sure that Mr. Kiwi or someone else knows what all your accounts are…. my grandmother passed away last year and it took my mom a few months to figure out that she had like 8 different accounts - solely in her name. My grandfather and grandmother kept entirely separate finances in addition to a handful of joint accounts. Don’t make it a big puzzle.

We will also open a joint checking after we’re married to handle bills and loan payments, but our paychecks will still be deposited into our own checking accts.

Hey, I have 8 different accounts between savings, checking, and IRAs. I have so many because I moved and, well, long story.. but anyway.

FI and I have been discussing this exact matter a good bit lately. He’s good with money, but I’m far more organized and make more so he’s just agreed to let me take over the finances once we tie the knot in January.

Here’s the current idea (taken from the 60% rule from MSN, but adjusted):
-60% joint checking for household expenses
-10% fun money - to personal accounts
-5% short term savings (vacations, holidays, new gadgets, etc.)
-10% long-term savings (home repairs)
-10% debt payment (his, btw)
-5% retirement

These numbers will likely change when we get into the middle of it, but it’s the general idea. When the debt’s paid off, that money would go to retirement.

Great topic! We put each other on our accounts, and once we are married in November we will be closing out his account because mine has more perks, etc. We will then have a joint checking, 2 separate savings accounts, a joint savings, plus our 2 IRAs yikes! The best part was that when we went to WAMU to add me to his account, the teller specifically made it a point to mention that once his account is made into a joint, he cannot undo it- ummm, thanks (I was sitting right there). She then explained she had just been through a nasty divorce. I thought it was hilarious that she was warning him about the potential future implications!

During the beginning of our wedding planning.. the best thing for us was to open up a checking account in order for us to pay for wedding things. We also opened up a joint saving account just so the money in there wasn’t earning any interest.

We still have our own separate checking/saving/mutual fund account.. just so we can still keep a lil of our independence.

We opened a joint account when we moved in together. We still have our individual checking accounts but have agreed to contribute 90% of our earnings to the joint account for all of our living expenses (including food, supplies, gas, mortgage, entertainment, etc.) Only truly personal items like clothes, makeup, boys’ night out, etc. come from our personal accounts. We also have personal credit cards, joint credit cards, separate 401Ks, and joint ING accounts. It’s been 1 year now and the system is working. At the end of the day, though, his money or my money - it’s all the same pot of money.

I think the key, really, is to agree to a system and follow it.

We have his and her money then our money. Joint and separate.

A great book to read if you are interested in something light is “Smart Couples Finish Rich” by Bach. It isn’t about making money it is about managing your money as a couple. The author is a financial advisor and wrote it based on his experience with his wife once they got back from their honeymoon and realized they hadn’t set their financial plan into motion about spending or saving his, her, or their money.

I will keep my own checking /savings and we have a joint mortgage account. I like my financial independence and the thought of buying FI presents from a joint account where it is 1/2 his money is odd. Also, I like to buy what I like, and no one is going to tell me “dont you have enough choos?”. I think A LOT of women make a HUGE mistake by merging their accounts. Basically, I am the complete opposite of Jessica. People just have their own way of doing things. I know it is still all “our” money.

i agree with red(#14) and sally(#18). i like the concept of maintaining our separate accounts.

right now, we each have a checking and savings, and since moving in together, we created a joint checking to pay the shared bills. we both contribute the same amount to the joint since our incomes are equal. if he’s “treating me” to something, he uses his his separate account and vice versa. so far, this has worked well.

we discussed how this would change if we ever got married. he figured we would join everything up and have 1 checking and 1 savings once we got married, you know, to celebrate the concept of “what’s yours is mine”. but to me, that didn’t make sense…and still doesn’t.

in any case, the conversation got cut short…but i know how important this topic is so he can be sure i’ll bring it up again! (with some good ideas from the post in tow!)

thanks miss kiwi!

We have been splitting bills since we moved in together 2 years ago, but have separate accounts.

Once we are married, we plan to have a joint account for savings & checking — then some sort of separate account for each of us, to spend however we like. I think the plan is for us to each put all but X dollars of our paycheck into the joint account, and our “allowance” will be in our own separate accounts.

We didn’t know if this was too many accounts - and if we should just have separate credit cards for discretionary spending - but I like the idea of having my own debit card for some reason. It will be quite an adjustment, I’m used to doing whatever I want with my money, not having to justify purchases to anyone…