joint or separate accounts?

bwatt00

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Probably depends on what you mean by "less so" and what your near future plans are.

Basically, when you get an account together your finances become linked. So if you then went to the bank for a loan they would check your record and see your details and your partner's details.
Lets say your partner has a history of taking out loans and not repaying them. Do you think the bank would then lend you the money?
If you don't have any joint products then you aren't linked and the bank would only see your details.
But if your partner has been pretty good apart from one late payment a couple of years ago then it probably won't hurt.

If you're on the brink of getting a large personal loan then it's probably best to wait.
If, however, you've got no plans to apply for credit before you get a joint mortgage then it makes no difference - as the joint mortgage application will go in both names anyway.

Im thinking or should i say me and my wife are thinking of getting a joint bank account,we got married over a month ago and we thought it be a good idea to have a joint account to stick money away in.
The other reason we are planning to move to australia hopefully within the next year all going well with her visa.
One of the things that help with the application of her visa is to have a joint account and i suppose another reason would be to just put money away for our move.
But the main reason i would say was to help in the visa.
The problem i might have is she was bankrupt some while back and was told by a certain year it be cleared and her name would be ok,i dont think she could get a bank account with say the visa logo on it i think cause of her rating but just a normal card from the bank,she has since the past year or more has a bank card which has the visa logo on it and allows her to use online etc etc she has also been paying her wages into it also.
Now i take as she had been bankrupt some while back and that the guy told her the name would be cleared i take this is correct?
Just say we go and try for a joint account will they know or see her past or will this be deleted as guy said if not will this affect my rating and maybe future stuff i may need?
If im going to australia then i have no worries but say we dont end up going for some strange reason it would not be good if my rating was damaged and i found it harder to get future money loans etc
Whats your thought on this,we really wanted to get one open to help with the application of her visa,but i no have idea of her past will affect me getting a joint account.
I would not say im perfect myself,as have had many cards,loans etc etc over the years but i have paid them all or paid them off over the years maybe the odd miss payment thats it,but i pretty much pay what i owe.

MoneySaverLog

CharlieH86 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and wanted to tag on the end of this discussion. I'm thinking about setting up a joint savings and current account with my partner when we move in together this month in order to start saving for our own house.

Further up in the discussion it said to do credit checks for each person as past bad ratings will be applied to both people - is this correct? My rating is squeaky clean :A but my partners less so so would it be better to save and pay bills from individual accounts until we have sufficient for a deposit?

Advice very much appreciated!

Only joint bank accounts are financially linked with the CRA. Joint savings accounts are not.

bwatt00

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

Only joint bank accounts are financially linked with the CRA. Joint savings accounts are not.

Not sure what you mean by this

throughtherain

The day my now wife and I moved to our current system of managing finances, we stopped arguing about money - before that, we argued ALL the time about who had paid how much for what, and it drove us insane!

Before we were married, we had a joint and individual accounts. Salaries went into individual accounts and we paid a set amount to cover joint bills. We never paid enough in for food/going out/unexpected bills etc and so we'd have to pay these individually and that's when it got complicated.

I have to preface this with the observation that while neither of us have been perfect with money, there were no trust issues; we had never taken joint money for something individual. When we married we decided this system wasn't working, and so we paid salaries into joint account, all bills went from this account, and we had a Standing Order for spending money to each other's individual account. As we were in a marriage we felt we should be equal partners; this meant it didn't matter who earnt more - it would all go in the joint account and we would have the same amount of money for personal spending each month. Any leftover money in the joint account can be spent on things for both of us that we agree on or to save up. Since doing it like this, we don't argue over money and everything works like clockwork. We have our privacy to buy presents/things for us from our individual accounts but everything is financially fair and equal.

We also have a joint savings account to save for joint things, and individual savings accounts for anything leftover from our 'individual' spending money.

Linking their finances in this way is a step too far for some people, but I think we have the best of both worlds. The reason we got married was to live our lives together, which to us means saving up for things together and having our 'household' account. Of course most people still need their individuality, so I think it's important to have separate accounts too if this applies to you.

Find what works for your relationship, as I'm sure it will be different for different people.

MoneySaverLog

bwatt00 wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by this

A savings account is not reported to the Credit Reference Agency, however a bank account is.

Difference between the two is that a bank account usually allows a overdraft, direct debits and standing orders on them, savings accounts generally do not.

bwatt00

I still not really had the answers to my questions posted about opening a joint bank account with my life and the reasons and her past?

thomasdown

bwatt00 wrote: »

Im thinking or should i say me and my wife are thinking of getting a joint bank account,we got married over a month ago and we thought it be a good idea to have a joint account to stick money away in.
The other reason we are planning to move to australia hopefully within the next year all going well with her visa.
One of the things that help with the application of her visa is to have a joint account and i suppose another reason would be to just put money away for our move.
But the main reason i would say was to help in the visa.
The problem i might have is she was bankrupt some while back and was told by a certain year it be cleared and her name would be ok,i dont think she could get a bank account with say the visa logo on it i think cause of her rating but just a normal card from the bank,she has since the past year or more has a bank card which has the visa logo on it and allows her to use online etc etc she has also been paying her wages into it also.
Now i take as she had been bankrupt some while back and that the guy told her the name would be cleared i take this is correct?
Just say we go and try for a joint account will they know or see her past or will this be deleted as guy said if not will this affect my rating and maybe future stuff i may need?
If im going to australia then i have no worries but say we dont end up going for some strange reason it would not be good if my rating was damaged and i found it harder to get future money loans etc
Whats your thought on this,we really wanted to get one open to help with the application of her visa,but i no have idea of her past will affect me getting a joint account.
I would not say im perfect myself,as have had many cards,loans etc etc over the years but i have paid them all or paid them off over the years maybe the odd miss payment thats it,but i pretty much pay what i owe.

If you have a joint account then this will definately come up on your credit report that you are linked financially so I'm pretty sure her bankruptcy would impact you because of the link? With regards to the bankruptcy you will have to go into detail of which account you want to open? By which I mean some may ask if you or your partner have had a CCJ or filed for bankruptcy in the last 6 years? to which you answer yes or no and they may fall into there criteria to have one of their accounts. Some may ask if you or your partner have ever been bankrupt? By which the answer you would have to answer is yes and this might automatically reject your application. Doesn't matter if its dropped off your file and can no longer be seen you still have to answer yes otherwise you would have lied in an application!!!

JimmyTheWig

bwatt00 wrote: »

I still not really had the answers to my questions posted about opening a joint bank account with my life and the reasons and her past?

If it's going to help with getting a visa and you need this visa to do what yuo want to do then I think it's something that you'll have to do and accept that it will be harder for you to get credit in the future.
Not quite sure what you want us to say.

bwatt00

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

If it's going to help with getting a visa and you need this visa to do what yuo want to do then I think it's something that you'll have to do and accept that it will be harder for you to get credit in the future.
Not quite sure what you want us to say.

Yes im sure it may help in her getting the visa for us to move overseas as evidence we are a couple etc even if already married etc,When we are moved and overseas credit history will not matter as does not make any difference overseas so opening the joint account for now and maybe saying ending it just before we leave will im sure help us with the visa among other evidence as a couple.
But say the worst happens and we can no longer get away,i would not want to have a hard time getting credit,money etc if staying in the uk as i decided to have a joint account with my wife,this is in the past with her, she has since got a debit card and pays wages into her account was told her name would be cleared after a few years of happening,which was a while back now,so really with adding her or us having a joint account and affecting my credit this is harsh is it not?
Just not sure where to go on this

darkvader

GentleGiant wrote: »

Should a married couple who currently have no financial links go for a joint bank account or keep them separate.

Been married 6 years now, OH working since 2 but we have had joint accounts since the beginning. End of the day it all boils down to how comfy the couple is with the other's spending habits and the trust in there. Either of us dont care how we spend any extra cash we have as long as we meet our planned savings targets. Probably also helps if one partner is the main 'Finance Manager' in the relationship to get on with investment and savings plans

Our salaries go into different joint accounts, the one where my salary goes into is used for all monthly payments, DD, SOs and the monthly credit card payment. OH account is mainly used for saving. We are quite open with our spending habits and never question the other as to why one has spent so much etc. OH is happy to know how I am managing savings and where I am investing etc but other than that both of us use a single account for our own needs, again it doesnt work for all couples of course but if it does then great

Other advantages are
1. As pointed out earlier, if anything happens to either partner then the account continues to function as is operated on a 'Joint or Either' basis these days - so practically too makes sense.
2. If one partner loses the Debit Card then you still have access without having to wait
3. Ditto for online banking if one locks out and there is an urgent need to access the account online

Personally, the only disadvantage I can see is if both go to withdraw funds when its running low then there is a possibility of going over. Not an issue at all if you use credit cards for big purchases and use the ATM for just the odd tenner !

DV