Because we haven’t yet seen a need for having one.
But most personal finance advise that you read online suggest having a joint savings account with your spouse (especially when your spouse is working which means you can share household expenses and such) — I doubt if these apply in an Indian context.
We were happy with the way we were managing our accounts before our marriage and there’s no reason to change that now. There is one situation, however, that might warrant having a joint account: access to our emergency fund, since either of us might need it on short notice. A joint savings account with individual ATM/Debit cards might be the right solution.
What do you think?
9 thoughts on “Marriage and Finances: Why We Don’t Have A Joint Savings Account?”
The key to a happy marriage is separate bathrooms and bank accounts.
However if one spouse becomes disabled the other will have to take someone from the bank to the hospital or home and get the thumb impression in a cheque in the presence of the bank employee. Or wait until he/she dies! So for dire emergencies like hospitalizations a joint account is best.
Of course if you had internet account you could write down the password somewhere and the souse can access it. But this is technically cheating.
Think of the worst thing that can happen and see if you are covered for that. If not then you will need a rethink.
I spent some time reading your articles. Some are good but many are trivial and don’t deserve to called a tip! Sorry! That my honest opinion. You need to provide more concrete info.
@ Vinayahs
Is there any financial benefits from any angle for having joint account with the spouse?
@pattu
I disagree with you. There are many people like me who are completely illiterate as far as finance is concerned. So to start with trivial things will be encouraging. I feel now I am in the stage two towards financial independence; just started thinking and enlightening myself. The journey has started. Thank you Vinaya.
@Soumya:
Yes. There is one “financial benefit” to having a joint account with your spouse — deposit insurance. You get double the benefit with a joint account. I’ll let these posts explain more: Awareness Fridays: A Guide to the Deposit Insurance System in India and Awareness Fridays: A Case Study that Illustrates how the Deposit Insurance System Works in India.
Let me know if you have any questions. And, thanks for the kind words.
@Pattu:
Appreciate your feedback. I try and address a broad audience. So, someone who’s already knowledgeable on personal finance might find the odd post here and there to be trivial.
That said, what kind of topics would you like me to cover?
The hubby and I share a joint account. We use it as a single source for various investments and insurance for the family (he, I and the baby). Most of the payments happen through ECS/cheques. We get reminders and confirmation messages when any transaction happens. So, it is easy for us to keep a track.
@Shilpa
What’s your strategy for contributing to this account? Do you deposit a fixed amount each month?
Yes, both of us contribute a fixed amount every month. In addition, any dividend and interest that comes from the investment gets credited into this account. So, that acts as a buffer in case either of us are not able to contribute for any reason.
Dear Vinaya- It’s not necessary for having a joint account. This what I follow:
Who ever earns a lesser salary his/her’s salry will used for monthly expenses and small emergecny fund. The other’s will go for savings, investments.
If car/home EMI are their then it will be split 50-50. This has worked very well for me for the past 10 yrs of married life! Touch wood no bummers till date!
@Vinay
Thanks for sharing your strategy. To make this work, communication must have been an extremely important aspect right?
Yes and she well accepted the concept!!!