Lets take a look at the pros and cons of a joint account
The pros and cons of a joint account
I have always been pretty independent in terms of my finances and form the time I went to University I have managed them by myself. My parents were not in the position to make many handouts and I sorted myself out on the whole with extra jobs, student loans, arranged overdrafts . All this was then followed by lots of hard work and not much spending to pay it all off.
So used to relying on myself getting married was a bit of a shock fo me financially . WE decided to put the same amount each month into a joint account and have all our bills taken out of the joint account.
This did not work too well to start with. One of us (I won’t name any names) kept using it as a current account and just taking money out as required so when it came time for the bills to come out we were often without enough funds and got slapped with an un-arranged overdraft fee. This caused a few tiffs as I am sure you can imagine.
Later I took n extremely long maternity break and my income nose dived so the amount I cold put into our joint account decreased enormously and was little more than a token gesture. This made me feel all sorts of inadequate (even though I was busy doing the most important job EVER!)
I am far less relaxed about money than my partner and like to have everything in order. Eventually we decided a joint account just was not for us . Now he sends me a specific amount each month and everything goes out of my current account which I keep a very close eye on.
My advice?
Well I think the moral of my story is that your finances are as individual as you are, times change, attitudes to money differ and what is right at one point may not stay right. Experiment a little and do not be afraid of changing what does not work for you. They might sounds the sensible option but a joint account won’t be right for every couple.
Don’t be afraid to switch your bank account if the one you have isn’t right for you. Take a look at the TSB switching page it can be a lot easier than you think.
The pros and cons of a joint account is a collaborative post
