Do you know your spouses income?

marleyboy

I have no idea how much OH has in the bank, nor would I feel the need to. OH has full access to my account and is free to use it for whatever reasons. I trust her enough to budget any combined monies as and when it is needed, that's what makes us a family.

butler_helen

marleyboy wrote: »

I have no idea how much OH has in the bank, nor would I feel the need to. OH has full access to my account and is free to use it for whatever reasons. I trust her enough to budget any combined monies as and when it is needed, that's what makes us a family.

I know his income but I don't know what he spends it on. We pay equal amounts into a joint account but the rest we spend individually.

He might have savings, he might not... But if we make plans then we both save our money into the joint savings.

I guess I have a vague knowledge of his spending potential and he leaves his statements around so I hope he's not in loads of secret debt. I know I've been honest in the past when I've been on debt.

poet123

We have a joint account and all monies go into that, but I deal with all the finances.

Dh is a CEO and leaves all that to me as he has little interest in personal finance, he has enough of that at work. I doubt he could tell you exactly what he earns (I could) and certainly he would only hazard a guess at what I earn. If he went online or looked at the bank statements though it is all there, he just leaves that to me.

mgdavid

I suppose a lot of the replies above explains why so many people in this country are financially naive, don't have 6 months bills in emergency fund, aren't saving enough for their retirement, and are at the mercy of any financial disaster whereupon they will look bewildered and blame the government :shocked:

lostinrates

mgdavid wrote: »

I suppose a lot of the replies above explains why so many people in this country are financially naive, don't have 6 months bills in emergency fund, aren't saving enough for their retirement, and are at the mercy of any financial disaster whereupon they will look bewildered and blame the government :shocked:

Not necessarily.

We have access to over six months emergency fund, (I'm not saving at all for retirement but DH is) and we are very much in financial prep. Financial planning is one of the reasons what salary I draw from our business might vary year to year and DH doesn't draw one yet. Its also why income and salary might not necessarily chime in many households....(not ours) with many people choosing to extreme salary sacrifice for various reasons.

Its also worth noting that my father made 'extreme' salary sacrifice for his working life for pensions then got caught not by one but two pensions scheme failures, so while it works for many it doesn't always work.

In our household the budget is really the key and the 'income' is secondary, and reviewed as part of our financial plan each year.


So far, we're doing ok, DH and I. I have made a lot and spent a lot, and saved a fair whack. He is making a lot, saved some. Our financial position makes me comfortable that while we might have to check figures we're doing ok not knowing them off the top of our heads. Always happy to do better though:D

poet123

mgdavid wrote: »

I suppose a lot of the replies above explains why so many people in this country are financially naive, don't have 6 months bills in emergency fund, aren't saving enough for their retirement, and are at the mercy of any financial disaster whereupon they will look bewildered and blame the government :shocked:

I disagree too, as long as there is trust and one half of the partnership sorts the financial minutiae no one loses. We have more than adequate savings, good pensions, and we are solvent with excellent salaries.

That position doesn't require both of us to have our fingers on the financial pulse. If there is reluctance on one side to disclose that is another matter, but if it is that one party is more financially interested than the other then that doesn't pose a problem.

74jax

mgdavid wrote: »

I suppose a lot of the replies above explains why so many people in this country are financially naive, don't have 6 months bills in emergency fund, aren't saving enough for their retirement, and are at the mercy of any financial disaster whereupon they will look bewildered and blame the government :shocked:

We have several years worth of emergency fund, still don't know his exact total savings/investment/income.

As to people who said how do we plan holidays when we don't know each others income, I'd suggest somewhere he'd agree (or not) and vice versa. If I said 'ooo its a bit pricey' and he really wanted to go then he'd pay.

We split bills roughly 60/40. I've never ran short in our 8 years so it works for us.

I know some say when payrises etc happen they tell their OH. Our conversation would be 'they gave me a 3% payrise' I'll pay for dinner.

Yes, I have bEen with others in the past where wev accounted down to our last penny in the bank. But I'm not in that position now.

CharlieRabbit01

for holidays we normally spend around £500-600 (total) which is usually split in half, but generally my OH has enough money to pay for it up front then I save up for my half.

I only have a minimum in savings as I pay off my debts instead, but OH has enough for emergencies if we needed it.

missprice

mgdavid wrote: »

I suppose a lot of the replies above explains why so many people in this country are financially naive, don't have 6 months bills in emergency fund, aren't saving enough for their retirement, and are at the mercy of any financial disaster whereupon they will look bewildered and blame the government :shocked:

not quite as he mentioned giving up his job a while back (in a fit of pique) so I said I know you have x so that is enough to keep us for about 4 years ish and he said oh yeah and I got this money from a endowment too so another 20 years there then,

I reckon we are ok for a bit longer yet I still don't know how much he has or exactly what he earns. I only know how much is in his pension because I was here and he asked my advice when he transferred from old to new.

oh and if he was to leave me I would have to manage as I did before he turned up.

fashionlover10

mgdavid wrote: »

I suppose a lot of the replies above explains why so many people in this country are financially naive, don't have 6 months bills in emergency fund, aren't saving enough for their retirement, and are at the mercy of any financial disaster whereupon they will look bewildered and blame the government :shocked:

I'm going to have to disagree here too. I know exactly how much my OH earns from his basic pay plus his hourly overtime wage and he knows how much I have earned each month as I tell him.

BUT we still don't earn enough in the first place to be in a position to save 6 months worth of emergency funds (atm it's more like 1 months worth). We're also not in a position right now to save for our retirement but I'm in my early 20's and OH is nearly 30 so we should have enough time to make up for it.

I certainly won't blame the government or expect any help if we don't bother to save for our retirement but I do feel we would be much much better off right now if I could find full time work.