Should You Combine Finances With Your Spouse

When you’re married, should you combine your finances with your spouse? How you navigate money will either pull you together or push you apart.

In this episode of the Finance for Physicians Podcast, Daniel Wrenne talks about managing finances for married couples. Consider the pros and cons of couples combining (or not) their finances.

Topics Discussed:

• Good and bad reasons to separate finances:
• • To keep some stuff private from spouse (i.e., gift giving)
  • To spend without scrutiny or criticism from spouse (no finger pointing)
  • Unequal spending habits and/or unequal income causes discomfort
  • Let the more responsible spouse manage all the money/finances
  • To hide spending that a spouse does not want the other to know about
• In most cases, operate as one and pull everything together. Why?
  • Consult and follow advice from the Bible
  • Personal experience transitioning from being single to married
  • Clients experience better outcomes when finances combined completely
  • Sheds light on major problematic issues that need to be addressed
• Keys to a Good Marriage:
  • Open communication about issues
  • Transparency builds and breeds trust
  • Accountability aspect of sharing everything in a loving way
  • 50/50: Combining finances helps to establish equality
  • Compromise when operating as one with combined finances
• Action Items - Before Combining Finances:
  • Talk through and resolve big issues
  • Get rid of individual accounts and combine them into one joint account
  • Ongoing, regular conversations about finances to be on same page
  • Give spouse opportunity to speak and listen to what they have to say
  • Compromise more often than you have in the past

Links:

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