Pros and Cons of Joint Account

Buzzybee90

Pros: saves time, you can just pay for something without having to worry who has paid for what, especially with things like holidays, furniture, cars.

If one of you becomes unemployed it's much easier to budget and work out what you can afford on a lower income etc.

Cons: you need to be able to trust them 100% - could steal the money yada

Possible feelings of resentment over who earns ("contributes") more or even embarrassment that one of you doesn't earn as much as the other.

DivineSaver

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

Possible feelings of resentment over who earns ("contributes") more or even embarrassment that one of you doesn't earn as much as the other.

This hadn't even occurred to me. I just assumed because it was all going into one place, it would just become "joint" money. The more I think about it, the more I think this might be what he is feeling (though he would never tell me if I was right).

Thank you for this.

roobee13

Hi OP,

I was in the middle of typing when buzzybee posted exactly what I was going to say.

We use the same method as you and it suits us. I personally can see where your OP is coming from (if of course that is how he feels) as I am the lower earner in our relationship and it would always feel like 'his' money if we went down the solely using a joint account route. Just my opinion!

One plus point for us is our joint account for bills is a Santander 123 account so we get the cashback and only pay 1x fee. When I lived with an ex we had a joint account with Lloyds and paid for the upgraded version. It seemed better value as we both got mobile phone insurance, AA cover etc for one fee (only useful if you need these kinds of things though)

If you're both happy with the current set up then maybe just see what rates / benefits you can get to make your money work harder?

pollypenny

When we married, a very long time ago, OHS earned more than me, then I was a SAHM for seven years before doing a degree.

We had many, many years when we've had to count every penny and that made us budget together, it was simply easier with one account.

burlington6

Think about it again when you're married

pickledonionspaceraider

Just a few thoughts,

I think resentment would potentially be huge con - as if there were a salary difference, the one earning the most, suddenly gets a decrease in available spending money, and the one earning the least gets an increase of available spending money - as it all becomes ''our money''.

Whoever is working the longest hours in the most pressured job or however they have studied hard to get where they are - they end up with less personal reward for it, while the other person could be working less hours/easier job, but still end up with the exact same available spending money. I can't see how it would successfully work if there were a large salary difference between the two people.

Also, salary aside, if one of the parties had an expensive hobby or wanted their hair doing every month or something, you would have to discuss spending money, with your partner

If your partner is dead against it, do not push it. It seems like there are no children involved and you are not married as yet - so plenty of time for all that in the future

Tropez

We have a similar set up to you. We're married and have our incomes paid into personal accounts and then transfer a proportion of our incomes into a joint account to pay for household expenses. There's a surplus each month so when it comes to planning holidays we use that surplus.

The pros to our system are everything gets paid and we both maintain a level of financial independence that we're happy with. Neither of us (generally) feel the need to scrutinise the other's spending, although I do tend to get the "what did that cost?" followed by an eyeroll whenever I acquire a new piece of techy stuff.

I don't see any real cons but that said, a friend of mine recently had an issue whereby they developed a particularly expensive habit and !!!!ed away thousands of pounds. Because their OH was unaware of this habit, it went unnoticed and has caused significant financial problems for them. It's an extreme scenario but perhaps worth considering.

But to put everything in a joint account - I don't know, it might be a bit disconcerting to suddenly be aware of how much I spend on techy stuff, or how much my wife spends on clothes.

Mattygroves2

pickledonionspaceraider wrote: »

Just a few thoughts,

I think resentment would potentially be huge con - as if there were a salary difference, the one earning the most, suddenly gets a decrease in available spending money, and the one earning the least gets an increase of available spending money - as it all becomes ''our money''.

Whoever is working the longest hours in the most pressured job or however they have studied hard to get where they are - they end up with less personal reward for it, while the other person could be working less hours/easier job, but still end up with the exact same available spending money. I can't see how it would successfully work if there were a large salary difference between the two people.

Also, salary aside, if one of the parties had an expensive hobby or wanted their hair doing every month or something, you would have to discuss spending money, with your partner

If your partner is dead against it, do not push it. It seems like there are no children involved and you are not married as yet - so plenty of time for all that in the future

There will lots of people who manage with joint accounts perfectly well even with huge differences in salary. All SAHMs, SAHDs, SAHWs and SAHHs for starters. So long as you see yourselves as a partnership in the fullest sense of the word and keep the communication going it works fine. There are more ways to have input into a relationship than simply money.

I agree that it will only work if both parties are willing to make it work as it requires trust on both sides.

One other advantage of shared finances can be reduced taxation of one party is a lower rate tax payer than the other. No point having savings in the name of a higher rate tax payer and paying higher or top rate tax on the income when the other party is a 20% or 0% tax payer. Again if not married this depends on alot of trust.

catkins

pickledonionspaceraider wrote: »

Just a few thoughts,

I think resentment would potentially be huge con - as if there were a salary difference, the one earning the most, suddenly gets a decrease in available spending money, and the one earning the least gets an increase of available spending money - as it all becomes ''our money''.

Whoever is working the longest hours in the most pressured job or however they have studied hard to get where they are - they end up with less personal reward for it, while the other person could be working less hours/easier job, but still end up with the exact same available spending money. I can't see how it would successfully work if there were a large salary difference between the two people.

There has never been any resentment by me or my OH and we have had only a joint account from day 1 of our marriage. We have both, at times, been the higher earner, sometimes by quite an amount (I earned more than double what OH did when we married). I now no longer work so all money coming into the house is earned by OH. He doesn't resent that.


I know a joint account is not for everyone but it is easier. I personally could never have been bothered with the faffing about working out how much each person pays into a joint account from their own single account.

FBaby

Different people have different view on this. Neither my OH nor I felt comfortable having a joint account and both agree to have separate. We both like to be in control of our own money. It works for us. For instance, he surprised me with a beautiful ring when he asked me to marry him and I'm glad I don't know how much it costs him. I like to treat him to some presents and I don't want him to know how much it costs (sometimes because I get a very good deal, sometimes because I don't want him to know how much I have spent as he would say I shouldn't spend that much).

Ultimately, it is mainly because this way, we both always know exactly how much we have in our account at all time. I would hate a situation when I have planned to get something special, and then at a time of paying for it, realise that the money isn't there because he has done the same thing but got there before me!!

We do have one joint account, but that's our holiday fund only and we both put money in as and when we feel like it. No pressure, doesn't have to be the same amount. We are both reasonable, both want to go on holiday together, so it's not a competition as to who puts the most or the least in!