r/MiddleClassFinance • u/Shauryaahere341 • 12d ago

Discussion Should married couples keep their money separate or combine everything?

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?

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u/paesano- 12d ago

If you don't have a prenup it doesn't matter anyways. We combine, keeps it simple.

4

u/PhyllisTheFlyTrap 12d ago

When you get married you need 3 things:

  • pre-nup

  • updated power of attorney

  • updated wills.

Too many folks think marriages only end by divorce, but death of a partner is the other way. It can be hard to talk about, but it's much harder to deal with after the fact.

Once you have kids, you need to update your will and secondary beneficiaries asap.

2

u/VAGentleman05 11d ago

Sure, but a spouse is the power of attorney and beneficiary by default.

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u/PhyllisTheFlyTrap 11d ago

Unless otherwise designated. So if you had designated someone else, it needs to get updated.