thaed137 said:

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Wife and I are very aligned on finances so having separate accounts never even crossed our minds.

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This response always gets me.

So you and your wife had the same banking accounts since birth? Are y'all siblings?

The beginning of a relationship is always, 100% without a doubt, separate accounts. A couple has to combine them at some point. It's never the other way around.

So yes, having separate accounts did cross your minds.. when you first met, for the first date, for the first month, etc.. until at some point you decided to combine.

Notice I said this works for us and is not necessarily what works for other so you can get your panties out of a bunch. We of course never had combined accounts since at that point she wasn't my wife, therefore, my wife and I always thought of combining accounts when we got married. Fight the good fight!

Wife and I are both conservative when it comes to spending but have always opted for separate accounts for checking/daily banking. All of the major accounts/portfolios are shared with both of us contributing. We discuss finances a lot so both are aware of what is going on and when we have extra money or need to pull back. We pay cash for just about everything and put money in different accounts at the end of each month. For example, she will need a new car soon so we both put money in her new car account. When the time comes, we write a check. I think people often assume people have different accounts so that they can hide spending. For us it just makes life more simple.

Stive said:

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Not being a jerk, genuinely curious. How does having an extra bank account, and having to do double transactions and transfers on everything make it more simple?

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Because all your money isn't in one big basket?

In short, it is simple because we are used to it. Before we got married, I was in the flow of charging everything then paying it off on payday at the end of each month. Anything extra gets put in the accounts I mentioned above. She did the same thing but gets paid every two weeks. This means that one payday is for paying off that month's CC statement and saving. The other is for paying a lot of our household bills and saving. For us, its simple because it was what we are used to and it has worked for 10 years now. We like the routine and it keeps us on top of bills, paying them as they come in. We could learn a new routine but don't really see the point as we are both happy with what we are doing and it wouldn't save us any money.

When we married she had an account at WF and myself at BOA. We closed both and opened a joint account at Chase the first week after getting married. Combined everything. Of course we were early 20's right out of college so we didn't have much. In fact, when we married we had a combined negative net worth due to student loans. Paid those off right away though.

She doesn't touch any finances/bills/etc though. I do it all.. She is very frugal herself so I don't worry about her spending at all. I track every dollar spent and on the 1st of each month record the balance of every account and send her a high-level snapshot of our current standing and how we are doing towards any goals we have at the moment. Works well for us.

It sounds like you both have your head on your shoulders financially. But, I think there is a risk for some couples when one doesn't have an active role in the finances. Its easier to spend that extra $100 a month when you don't see how it impacts the bottom line. I'm lucky that my wife isn't like that, but I would hate for one party to get to disconnected.

bjork said:

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CS78 said:

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One tip I can give. Don't be afraid to save and invest taxable money. Much easier to make a move on investments like real estate and small businesses if you have some taxable money that you can get to quickly. Everybody gets tied up in Roths and 401Ks but forgets about the lifetime of opportunities that will come along in the meantime.

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"Will", or may come along?

Tax deferred and tax-free growth are once in a lifetime opportunities. You can't retroactively fund 16's 401(k) today.

If I wanted to invest in real-estate, I would tap equity on my home. If I wanted to invest in a start-up, I would draw the principal on my Roth. When I retire early, I'll Roth ladder my 401(k). These aren't funds locked away until 59.5.

We do invest in taxable, but only after we've maxed our tax advantaged space. We also VWINX'ed our home down payment in taxable.

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So you are going to tap your retirement accounts to invest in riskier short term investments? Then you created a loan/obligation situation.

I know what you are saying, but I disagree to an extent. Having cash on hand for the specific purpose of investing in operating businesses or non traditional investments is way easier to keep yourself motivated to make that happen rather than borrowing from your retirement accounts.

Maybe that is just simple psychology. I invest about 17% of my income in retirement accounts and then the rest goes to normal expenses plus anything left over I plow into other investments that are not stocks. It's the only way I see to grow considerable wealth that you can realize prior to retirement.

Quote:

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But, I think there is a risk for some couples when one doesn't have an active role in the finances.

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There's a risk either way. Two alpha personalities with opposing financial opinions is equally risky. Or worse, neither cares and YOLOs until society supports them.

FriendlyAg said:

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bjork said:

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CS78 said:

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One tip I can give. Don't be afraid to save and invest taxable money. Much easier to make a move on investments like real estate and small businesses if you have some taxable money that you can get to quickly. Everybody gets tied up in Roths and 401Ks but forgets about the lifetime of opportunities that will come along in the meantime.

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"Will", or may come along?

Tax deferred and tax-free growth are once in a lifetime opportunities. You can't retroactively fund 16's 401(k) today.

If I wanted to invest in real-estate, I would tap equity on my home. If I wanted to invest in a start-up, I would draw the principal on my Roth. When I retire early, I'll Roth ladder my 401(k). These aren't funds locked away until 59.5.

We do invest in taxable, but only after we've maxed our tax advantaged space. We also VWINX'ed our home down payment in taxable.

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So you are going to tap your retirement accounts to invest in riskier short term investments? Then you created a loan/obligation situation.

I know what you are saying, but I disagree to an extent. Having cash on hand for the specific purpose of investing in operating businesses or non traditional investments is way easier to keep yourself motivated to make that happen rather than borrowing from your retirement accounts.

Maybe that is just simple psychology. I invest about 17% of my income in retirement accounts and then the rest goes to normal expenses plus anything left over I plow into other investments that are not stocks. It's the only way I see to grow considerable wealth that you can realize prior to retirement.

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The comment I replied to advocated taxable because IRAs and 401(k)s are illiquid until retirement. Which is patently false.

Drawing my Roth principal was a hypothetical. However, even in the hypothetical it isn't a loan. You're free to draw your Roth principal at any time, penalty free. Unless you're saying you're borrowing from your future self - then sure.

There is no "right" way. But a majority of people aren't chasing non-traditional investments. I would hate to see cash parked, eroding to inflation, tax space wasted and opportunity cost of returns for a maybe investment in the future.

We fund every bit of tax advantaged space available to us - including the series EE max for two. Plan to retire at 40-45.

Oh ok, ya I am on the same page as you.

I agree about cash sitting. I also have learned that I can find higher returns than taxable brokerage accounts while not even tapping my retirement accounts.