Bank Account Overload

I've come to the realization that Josh and I may have too many bank accounts.  At the very least, we need to have a little pow wow about what's working and what's getting to be a pain in the ass. 

Admittedly, I take responsibility for much of the budgeting and planning in our household.  I do it because I like it and Josh finds it tedious, so it just worked out that way.  That's not to say that he's in the dark - we regularly discuss our goals and savings plans together... it's just the day-to-day stuff that I manage.  However, I think that I've made our system a little too complicated for it's own good.

Before we got married, I had my own checking and savings accounts with one bank.  Josh had a checking and savings account with another bank.  When we got engaged, we opened up a joing savings account with ING Direct to make saving for our honeymoon easy.  Then, when we were almost married, we closed out Josh's checking and savings accounts, and he opened up his own checking, along with another joint checking account with me, at my bank.

Here's the current account rundown:

- 1 ING Savings Account (joint)
- 1 xxx Bank Savings Account (mine)
- 1 xxx Bank Checking Account (joint)
- 1 xxx Bank Chekcing Account (Josh)
- 1 xxx Bank Checking Account (mine)

The thing is, I'm all for autonomy, and I like having at least ONE account that is in my name alone.  HOWEVER, that being said, I don't think I need 2 ME accounts, in addition to 2 Joint accounts, to make this work.  All in all, it's getting way to complicated to move money around and make payments and save.  I feel like I'm constantly transferring money back and forth, and it's just not productive. 

So, what to do?  Should I close out MY xxx Checking Account, but keep my own personal savings account?  Should Josh and I just use the Joint checking account and close both our individual checking accounts?  Is this too many accounts for one couple to have?  Do other people have this many too?!

<sigh> Your opinions are welcome here - I know there's a great debate about joint/separate accounts for couples, but my personal feeling is that I would like at least ONE account in my name only.  Advice?

Comments

[Blaine Moore (First Time Homeowner)]

I just recently got married, and we will be closing her checking and savings accounts and adding her to mine.

[Henri]

I think for is the minimum.

1 Savings(you)
1 Saving (Josh)
1 Saving (Joint)
1 Checking (Joint)

10% of total monthly income goes to each personal saving (20% total) - (Long term saving)

15% of total monthly income goes into joint saving (short/medium term/ Emergency)

60% in Checking account (Bills, living expense, IRA contribution, CC payements, etc...)

Money should never really be coming out of the first 3 accounts.

[prlinkbiz]

NOooooo!! LOL Ladies- keep your own accounts!! Keep things in your own name, pay bills in your own name, keep your own credit cards, keep your identity. Godforbid something happens (divorce, death, etc.) You aldies will have to start over from scratch if you don't retain your own indentity on some level. Trust me. I just had to start over at 28 years old. I literally have no account history, since I became Mrs. who combined everything at an early age. I never put anything in my name. Even married people should still be able to have their own investments, money and plans for the future.

[Amanda]

Yes - I will definately be keeping at the very least my personal savings account, as well as my own retirement accounts. We also both have our own, separate credit cards. Never fear, PRLinkBiz, I understand the importance of having independent credit!

[Spender]

Starting your marriage with the attitude "I should do this in case we get a divorce" is such a foul attitude and could easily help contribute to sabotaging it.

I got married a year ago and right off the bat, my wife and I completely merged all of our finances. It was now our money, and our bills. Most bills were joint things (rent, utilities, groceries) and basically the only separate expenses would be some dining out and cellphones. Getting a family plan easily saved money on our cell phones.

Our one concern with merging everything was discretionary spending for random stuff we wanted. We simply decided that we need to keep each other up on the others spending. Part of that is accurate and regular expense tracking. And the other is simply saying "hey, was thinking of buying X, we have enough or need to transfer any?" That can be good too, since sometimes she'll say "do you really need that?" It can help to curb impulsive spending.

Overall, the two things you need to complete merge your finances and have it work is trust and communication.

[Sarah]

I have never been married, so as a disclaimer, I have no personal experience, but that never stopped me from giving my opinion before :-). I would go for joint savings and joint checking where your checks are direct deposited. Then have two side accounts for your personal spending money and gift giving accounts. I'm sure people disagree, but I think that couples should keep the great majority of their money joint since a marriage is made of two equal partners trying to build a life.

[Jennifer]

When I got married a little over a year ago, we decided to keep our checking and savings accounts separate. It was a good decision too because while we were on our honeymoon in London, someone cleaned out my husband's checking account!

[Maggie]

Ah yes, Hubby and I will celebrate our 14th anniversary in December. We started with a Joint checking accout, and boy how we have evolved. We have different money styles. To save my sanity, we each opened a checking and savings accounts at different Credit Unions.

You can read about my current situation on my blog. I put the direct link to this post in the URL space. In summary, I have 3 checking accounts plus the Money market fund. All for very good reasons.

But suffice it to say that it is nice to have some money that you do not consult your partner about, especially for buying them gifts.

[Ben]

I may not be a financial genius, but for my wife and I having a joint checking and a joint brokerage account has worked well for 16 years now. We each have our own retirement accounts though. I will tell you that for that to work, you have to have good communications with your spouse.

[Jenni]

I would say you should close your checking account and Josh should close his, but he should open up a savings account. Then you both have savings accounts for "me" money, a checking account for expenses, and the ING account for mutual savings.

[Joel]

When we got married two became one as did our checking accounts. I don't have anything mine, and she doesn't have anything hers. Everything is our's and has been for the last eleven years.

We have one checking and one savings; joint of course.

[Tim]

I'm not yet to the point where I want a joint account with my girlfriend...that'll have to wait till marriage. But I can't imagine us having more than 1 joint account and then each of us having our own accounts. Looks like you two have been very ambitious with the accounts. :)

[Daniel]

What a great post! Here is what me and my fiance do:

1 checking account (mine)
1 checking account (hers)
Multiple joint ING accounts all under one login.(see my recent post about how we save)

Our checking accounts are both at Bank of America. Bank of America offers instant transfers. So at the end of the month when we pay rent, my fiance transfers me some money instantly and I write the check.. It works out absolutely fantastic for both of us.

[prlinkbiz]

This was a great post, because it created conversation. I am nto about doom and gloom- but I know the statistics for us women:
-47% of women over the age of 50 are single.
-50% of marriages end in divorce.
-In the first year after a divorce a woman’s standard of living drops and average of 73%.
-Of the elderly living in poverty 3 out 4 are women…and 80% of them were not poor when their husbands were alive.
-Nearly 7 out of 10 women will at some time live in poverty.
One last statistic: 90% of all women have sole responsibility for their finances within their lifetime, yet 79% of all women have not planned for this.
Keep a couple cc cards in your name, some utilities, and at least one bank account- even if you put money aside and use it for buying things like your spouses gifts!

[EliminateOurDebt]

My wife and I have joint accounts. I have read arguments for why people have an account for themselves. I truly believe the money goes from being just your own to "ours". A marriage is a union of many things....

[Amanda]

These are all very good points. Thank you to everyone for contributing your opinions!

[anon]

The women in my family have a tradition of "secret accounts" - back in the old days I believe it was called "pin money" after money that mothers would give daughters for hatpins. Anyway, usually mom starts daughter a bank account at an early age, which she keeps for herself - sometimes the husband doesn't even know about it at all. There has been zero divorce in my entire extended family (probably because we're old time Irish Catholics) but there have been good reasons for separate accounts - my grandpa was a great man, but sadly also an alcoholic, so the secret account allowed my grandma to provide for the family when he occasionally drank away the money. Another family member was accused of embezellment by his company, and all his assets (including joint accounts) were frozen during the investigation - his wife's secret account saved them financially. So the stashing of secret money isn't just for "maybe I'll leave him/ maybe he'll leave me" scenarios... sometimes its so you can keep the family together. Plus, my grandma's retirement and long term care was funded by her "secret account"!

[Kimber]

The hubby and I have both joint and separate accounts.

Why?

In case of one of us (either) getting sued individually.

In case of death (and the will being contested followed by freezing of accounts).

In case of identity theft.

In case...

You get the picture.

Having only joint accounts would be like holding investment real estate under a personal name. It just shouldn't be done.

Lawsuits and other trickery is the new reality folks. I believe in at least doing the basics to protect the ones we love (including ourselves).

[Christiana]

My husband and I each have an individual checking account and then we have a joint checking and joint savings.
Personally, my advice is to drop one of your individual accounts, Amanda - be it your checking or your savings, your choice of which you use the most.
As for protecting yourself - its always good to establish creidt (or continue credit) in your own name, regardless of whether you even think about the possibility of divorce. Even death happens and you can end up in the same boat, having little or no current credit history in your name and be forced to start over completely. Which is why every woman should get some sort of college degree even if she plans to stay at home for her entire life.

[Bill]

This is a good motivational post, because it has occasionally surfaced in the back of my mind, but I haven't really focused on quantity until now. I think we flunk the stream-lined account test:

1. Checking acct: wife
2. checking/savings: joint
3. checking savings: joint
4. ING Savings: joint
5. Local Bank Checking: joint
6. Different local bank checking: joint
7. USAA Savings/Checking: me

Account 1 was opened b/c of a promotion going on, and should really be closed now and folded into #2 or 3. Accounts #2 & 3 are both at separate credit unions, which offer a range of promotions and perks - one tends to have better interest rates for savings/checking & loans, the other tends to have good promotions (like $100 to transfer a car loan that we ended up paying off 2 months after transfer), Account 4 is the major savings account. Account 5 has minimal balance, just opened so that we could open up children super-saver accts for our two young sons b/c they offered 5% for young savers - very good at the time, but moot these days now that ING and others have 4+% interest. 6 is an investment account to keep cash flow from a rental property separate, which I think is needed. Number seven has been inactive for years, and has practically nothing in it. I just haven't done anything with it. And we have a money market with GE.

We have kept accounts in part to ward off identity theft account wipe-outs (we bill pay from one of the credit union and wifes' checking), and have some EFT payments that make me nervous, but when actually listed out, we still have too many accounts. I think that #'s 1, 5 & 7 will be slated to go, but the others we will keep. Does anyone else play banks or credit unions off of each other with regards to interest rates and special offers?

[Fred Taylor]

I think it is despicable to keep separate bank accounts when you get married. You are sharing your money. It's despicable to get a prenup too. Why are you getting married if you think there's a good chance you're going to get divorced?

My wife and I got married not long ago and we are just about finished combining our accounts.

[Ryan Arroyo]

There are so many different financial issues/questions/options of varying complexity that we all face in the early parts of our career. I have recently started a new site focused on young professionals:
http://genYfinance.net

My goal is to have a place for financial tips, and information, that allows for user interaction. Post up questions there and search for answers. In combination with "youngandbroke"'s down to earth money saving tips, we should all be in good shape.

[Matt]

My fiance and I are going to keep most of our finances separate but what I think is very beneficial is having one banking institution for everything, simplicity and ease.

[Amanda]

I agree, Matt. No matter what, we have all our accounts with one bank (except for one with ING Direct).
Fred - I think that it is kind of impractical to say that having some separate accounts is "despicable". There are reasons for doing so that have nothing to do with being secretive or planning for divorce. The simple fact is that half of marriages do end in divorce, and while I never want to even consider it for myself and my relationship, you can never predict the future.

[c]

My husband and I have been married two years. We have a joint checking, savings and ING account. We each have our own credit cards and retirement accounts (mostly because that was what we had before and it didn't make any sense to us to change those). We each get an "allowance" out of the joint account each month that we pull out as cash. Most of my "allowance" purchases go on my credit card and I just deposit the cash when the bill comes and then transfer the money. For us, it works well. We're both of the belief that everything we have is ours, not his and mine. But everyone is different. The key, I think, is just to find what the two of you are most comfortable with.