The Issues With Joint Debt (part 1)

Financial Independence

All couples (or anyone in joint debt) have their own way as to how they deal with money and finances. Some approaches may depend on certain issues such as whether both partners bring in an outside income or one of them has family money. Even a previous marriage with dependent children will also be a subject that greatly effects as to how a couple may set up their finances to begin with. Needles to say, there are different outlook and many different dynamics that make up financial issues regarding joint debt.

On the bright side of things, it does seem to be a positive aspect for most all couples if each one has some sort of independent financial life. This could be as simple as each person having their own checking account to spend on the things they would like, with an additional checking account for both parties to have to pay bills from. There are couples who even keep all finances separate all together, right down to the possibility of writing two checks to pay each bill half and half each month. What ever it takes to achieve financial harmony in your partnership, do it. There really is no right or wrong way to go when it comes to relationships and joint debt as long as there is an agreement that is followed. Whatever works for you works for you.

Separate spending cash

A common problem for many couples with a joint checking account is that one person takes money out of it without notifying the other or remembering to tell the other at least. Maybe the transaction never makes it to the check book register either or whatever. If this happens it can be devastating to your account balance too. This is how accounts become overdrawn quickly. This type of situation also happens a lot when there are ATM cards involved. Having ATM cards for each person is a quick and very convenient way for accounts to go bad too. They are very easy to forget too.

One way to avoid this is for each of you to have separate accounts for your own personal money. The joint account can be reserved for when both of you are sitting down together to pay bills, so it is never in the hands of one or the other independently. If there is a household expense that is not necessarily a monthly bill, liker an expensive part that has to be replaced on a major appliance or something, then the person who bought the appliance can pay for the repair out of their account and be reimbursed by the joint account at bill paying time. You do not have to do it this way; it is just a simple way to do it that will not cause extra time to figure out.

Having all of these different accounts may seem a bit complicated to deal with for some of you. It can be unless you find yourselves paying massive overdraw fees on the joint account that is a free-for –all, or feeling like you have no financial independence at all beyond a little spare amount of cash. Then what might seem like an unnecessary pain in the neck then becomes both a saver of your money and a saver of your relationship – then it is no pain in the neck at all right?

Worth noting: 40% of married people in the U.S. do not reveal to their spouses how much they spend. Out of that 40%, 48% said they had not told their spouse the real price of an item they had purchased. Yikes! Are you this person?

Separate credit cards

Just like joint checking accounts, joint credit card accounts may work for some partnerships and not others. When a credit card company issues both you and your mate’s cards on the same account, remember that the credit limit is on the card as a whole. This may seem elementary, but if you have an account with an available balance, it is for the entire account – not each card. So, like joint checking accounts, joint credit card accounts also take communication between both cardholders. Always talk to each other before making purchases and if your card gets lost or stolen – communicate because both cards will be cancelled as soon as you notify the credit card company. Try to track and keep better record of your spending by each having a separate credit card account for which you are individually responsible fro paying each month.

Worth noting: Keep an eye on the actual credit card, especially if one cardholder does not use it much. From time to tome be sure that you are checking to see that both cards are still accounted for. Always take immediate action if you see any fraudulent activity or lost cards. Again, many times, couple may have a joint credit card account and they will not always notice suspicious activity on the account if they are not communicating. Be sure to take control and stay on top of your finances no matter how many people are on the account.

Part 2...

(863)

Back to News Updates