Married folks of Blind, I’m going to be marrying my girlfriend soon and was wondering how married couples deal with finances. We are both working and earn a good salary, although there is a wide income gap between us (one of us makes ~3x the other). Our combined TC is around 500k. How do you deal with: 1. Bank accounts. Do you just put both of your paychecks into one combined account? Or do you still maintain your own accounts along with a combined account (split income between each)? 2. Assets/investments from before marriage. What is the best approach for this? This includes cash savings, stocks, real estate, etc. I have a significantly more amount of assets than her in this case so it’s really more of a question for me. 3. Laws in case of divorce. Of course this is a sensitive subject to discuss but what happens to the family’s finances in case of divorce? Of course everything we gained after marriage should be split 50-50 but wondering what happens to assets/investments we have before getting married
Cultural nuisances obviously. We r Indian and have everything together. Very initially split for a bit but then let it go. Much easier to manage expenses /mortgage etc from one account
It really depends whether you want to get a prenup. If not, I’d advise you to keep your pre-marriage investments separate and don’t touch it. Just put them into some ETF or get bunch of blue chips. Set up a joint bank account and an investment account. If you’re in community property state (most likely you are) - either way it’s your common property.
Were you in Japan before she moved to US?
I and my wife both work in FAANG. Similar TC. I don’t care about joint or separate accounts. Doesn’t matter where your liquid money is sitting. Tomato tomato! I have made an online sheet to track our finances and goals. In the beginning of every month, we both go into that and put how much we have in bank accounts, stocks, 401K, retirement. It automatically shows individual contribution in total wealth. If numbers are whacky, then we both go deep to figure what happened last month. We both are adults and make enough money but also conscious about not going on a shopping spree.
My wife does not know what I earn exactly. Only a lower point she knows. With this, we share everything. Rest is in my personal investment. Noone can know what will happen in the future
Whatever you decide to do with your finance, be a equal partner in household chores and responsibilities, and kids (if you decide to have them). If you are ever going to use "I earn 3X you do, so you should do more chores", my advice is to not get married.
If you’re getting married, you need to combine everything. Don’t put a half butt effort into this.
Get a prenup
1. We have a joint account for expenses and emergency savings and separate accounts for personal spending, investments. He makes 3x what I make and is the only one who funds the joint account but I take care of all day to day household expenses and kids. We’ve been married a loooong time. I initially wanted us to have one account but realized we need some independence without having to explain every purchase or withdrawal. Trust but verify works 2. Consult a lawyer but I think it’s fair you keep what you brought to the marriage for assets and debts. 3. Again the lawyer. Think about what you would like to happen if you died and not just if you got divorced. Congratulations and good luck!
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We dedicate half of our income towards living costs and other common needs. Each person is free to do whatever they want with their remaining half. Has worked well so far. No kids, similar TC. A while ago, there was a TC gap (like yours). Each person was still paying their 50% even though the amounts didn't match