Money Moral Dilemma: Should my husband contribute more to our finances?

MSE_Sarah

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks...

My husband and I have always split bills 50/50 and pay them from a joint account, despite him earning three times as much as me. We recently had a baby, so my earnings dropped significantly. I've claimed child benefit, which is paid into our joint account, but as my husband earns about £60,000 a year, he has to pay a 'high income child benefit tax charge' and says it should come from our joint account. Is this fair?

Unfortunately the MSE team can't always answer money moral dilemma questions as contributions are often emailed in or suggested in person. They are intended to be enjoyed as a point of debate and discussed at face value.

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kazt2006

Yes if that’s where the money goes into!

Marvel1

Yes, the family is one big income.

There should be no 50/50 when marriage and kids are involved.

leslieknope

i hope all your money goes into a joint account and you spend it as a family...

michaels

He should salary sacrifice into his pension down to 50k as the marginal tax rate from 50k to 60k is crippling - probably worth doing it down to higher rate tax threshold to be honest.

DW and I do not have separate money. Sadly as my earning power is greater than hers, I work and she stays at home saving the childcare costs - wish it were the other way around.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Are you sure you are married? Sounds more like a business arrangement.[/FONT]

amateur_house

I've just had to look up what this charge is as I've never heard of it (never earned enough). The way you describe it is that you each pay the same amounts towards the bills. If you don't get any benefit from his earnings being over the limit to get child benefit I can see why you wouldn't want to pay it from the joint account. You would actually be better off if he earned less if his higher earnings are going to his own personal account rather than benefiting the family as a whole.

Big_Ot

I've never understood 'my money/your money' with married couples. It's our money! It's worked for us for over forty years.

kelpie35

I always thought a marriage was a partnership.

I do not believe that there should be your money/his money.

I do not see a problem when all the money that comes into the home is put into one pot. Then each of you has an equal "pocket money" to spend on whatever you wish.

I do hate the idea that there is so much comparison made about how much each earns and what each should contribute.

starting_again_in_the_sun

If you really must keep your incomes separate, you should probably pay a % of bills representative of your income share rather than just splitting it 50/50.

So, if your husband earns 60k and you, for example, earn 20k, he should pay for 75% of the outgoings from the joint account.

I would be concerned if he had a problem with this....

AnneMary

You are married. You have a baby. It's time to stop sorting your finances as flatmates and make decisions about what kind of family you want to be.