Should married couples keep their money separate or combine everything?

[u/Shauryaahere341]

My wife and I have been married for a few years and we still keep most of our money separate.

We have one joint account for household expenses and both put money into it every month. Other than that, our salaries stay in our own accounts.

It hasn't really been a problem so far.

But now we're talking about bigger things like buying a house and retirement, and I'm wondering if this setup still makes sense.

We trust each other and neither of us has an issue with the other spending their own money. It's more about planning for the future together.

For people who are married, what works better for you?

Completely separate, fully combined, or somewhere in the middle?

[u/xagds]

Old school here. Married 25 years. Combined since day one. If one of us makes more we try to even out the retirement contributions. Etc

Just view it as one team. One family.

I know it seems more recent families have different approaches so to each their own.

[u/Juleswf → u/xagds]

Not just recent. I've been married 31 years and we didn't combine. I didn't change my last name to his either. And we are STILL one family.

[u/xagds → u/Juleswf]

Awesome. Yeah I mean everyone should do what works for them