Financial advice for new married couple?

sho_me_da_money

Hey guys,

Just recently got married and was wondering If anyone could help us out regarding our finances.

I currently have a standard Abbey account and the wife has a Natwest.

I was hoping to do the following:

*Open up a joint account
*Have both our wages placed into this account
*Have all our bills debited from this new joint account
*Have £500 taken away each month from the joint account into a savings account

Can anyone please advise:

1. What is the best joint account to go for?
2. Am I right in placing our savings into an ISA or is there anything better?
3. If yes to 2, what is the best and safe ISA to go with?

Any other advice would be much appreciated. Im an absolute noob when it comes to this.

Thanks guys.

whitewing

We have a free joint current acct with Lloyds. Although their service is not always wonderful (nor are the other banks anyway), their online banking is good, and you retain 6 years of banking details online which can be useful.

No need to pay a fee for your current acct, unless you will truly use the benefits.

john_s_2

Don't forget that an ISA can only be in one name. If you plan to save more than the current allowance (3600 for cash) then you can open two - one in your name, one in your spouse's. But if not then you will need to decide whose name this is in. Assuming you trust each other (and you shouldn't have a joint account if you don't) then this shouldn't be a problem. *

FWIW I think it's worth keeping accounts in your own names as well and set up a standing order from your joint account into them for your 'pocket money' each month. It helps to keep luxury spending (beer and fags) away from the essential spending (mortgage/rent).

EDIT: as for which joint account will be best, I think you need to ask yourself what features you'll want from this account. If it's likely to be overdrawn a lot of the time then you will want a different account than if it's always going to be in credit. I would guess that if you plan to save £500 pcm then it's never going to be overdrawn (or rarely).

* EDIT: There's no reason why you shouldn't both open an ISA, even if the total deposited in them in one year won't exceed £3600. But this is unnecessary hassle if you trust each other. You can always alternate whose name the ISA is in each year as you open new ones.

sho_me_da_money

Thanks for the early replies guys.

Ok the advice on keeping both single accounts sounds like a decent idea for our pocket money but i'm not one for keeping multiple cards/accounts/paperwork.

The Joint Account and ISA, i'd like to have are the ones that offer the best/highest interest rate returns.

Cheers

john_s_2

OK, this is your friend for best cash ISAs:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=401374

Personally I don't worry about the rate on my (our) current accounts, as any spare money is swept into savings - although I'm sure I lose a few quid interest every year. But it's enough to be chasing the highest rate savings accounts all the time - I can't be bothered to do this with current accounts as well.

But I would recommend trawling through this board for current accounts:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=20

And reading Martin's page of course:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts

sho_me_da_money

Hi there,

We've decided to get rid of the current accounts we both have and operate everything from a joint account.

Should our joint account be a high interest savings account? Should it be a regular current account? What's the best thing to dofor a Joint account?

Thanks,

Jake'sGran

As far as I know a high interest savings account would not be like having a current account. You would not get a cheque book, should you want one. Nor would you be able to transfer money to pay bills etc. Therefore you have answered your own question. There are lots of current accounts about but none paying high interest although some do have better terms than others, like a free buffer zone should you ever become overdrawn. At the beginning of this section the best current accounts will be listed.

jem16

Why not open a Halifax Reward current account and earn £5 for every month you have paid in £1000? You can even open three each and move money around and still earn £5 each month.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/reward-current-account.asp

Gwhiz

My advice. Keep your salaries paid into your own accounts and just transfer your monthly needs to the joint. You'll thank me in 10 years when you are beating the "divorce" odds

margaretclare

My advice: don't EVER refer to your new bride as 'the wife'. Quickest way to get a frying-pan round the head.

'My wife' never 'the' wife.

That said....

Work out a budget between you and stick to it.

margaretclare

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

Hi there,

We've decided to get rid of the current accounts we both have and operate everything from a joint account.

Big mistake.

While I'd be the first to argue that you need a joint account, to pay household bills, you also need your individual accounts.

Our joint account is funded by both of us and it covers all household things, council tax, electricity, all the things that have to be paid before anything else. All bills are paid on a monthly basis by direct debit, that way it's painless, we don't risk forgetting anything and no worries if we're away on holiday. But we do keep our own accounts and our own savings.