Joint or separate accounts? The wrong choice could hurt your marriage

You share your lives. But what about your bank accounts?

Census data shows the finances of American couples are drifting apart, as an ever-growing share of married partners keep separate accounts.

Survey data suggests younger Americans may be driving the trend, with Gen-Z and millennial couples far more likely to keep their funds separate than Generation X and boomers.

Common sense suggests separate accounts are a win-win. Both partners reap a measure of financial independence. Neither can guilt the other over an impulse buy. If the partnership ends, your funds are already divided.

But there’s a trove of academic research on the comparative merits of joint and separate bank accounts, and it tells a different story.

"The research suggests having joint accounts is a positive thing for marriage," said Jenny Olson, an assistant professor of marketing at Indiana University. "You’re able to maintain that sense of 'we.'"

Roughly 40% of married couples keep all of their money in joint accounts, as of 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. About 23% of couples have only separate accounts. The remaining 38% have a mix of separate and joint accounts.

In a groundbreaking 2023 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/money/