Should You Combine Finances With Your Spouse

<p>When you&rsquo;re married, should you combine your finances with your spouse? How you navigate money will either pull you together or push you apart.</p> <p>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.</p> <h3><strong>Topics Discussed</strong><strong>:</strong></h3> <ul> <li>Good and bad reasons to separate finances:</li> <li> <ul> <li>To keep some stuff private from spouse (i.e., gift giving)</li> <li>To spend without scrutiny or criticism from spouse (no finger pointing)</li> <li>Unequal spending habits and/or unequal income causes discomfort</li> <li>Let the more responsible spouse manage all the money/finances</li> <li>To hide spending that a spouse does not want the other to know about</li> </ul> </li> <li>In most cases, operate as one and pull everything together. Why? <ul> <li>Consult and follow advice from the Bible</li> <li>Personal experience transitioning from being single to married</li> <li>Clients experience better outcomes when finances combined completely</li> <li>Sheds light on major problematic issues that need to be addressed</li> </ul> </li> <li>Keys to a Good Marriage: <ul> <li>Open communication about issues</li> <li>Transparency builds and breeds trust</li> <li>Accountability aspect of sharing everything in a loving way</li> <li>50/50: Combining finances helps to establish equality</li> <li>Compromise when operating as one with combined finances</li> </ul> </li> <li>Action Items - Before Combining Finances: <ul> <li>Talk through and resolve big issues</li> <li>Get rid of individual accounts and combine them into one joint account</li> <li>Ongoing, regular conversations about finances to be on same page</li> <li>Give spouse opportunity to speak and listen to what they have to say</li> <li>Compromise more often than you have in the past</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3><strong>Links:</strong><