Joining Bank Accounts

Hi guys, quick question;

My girlfriend and I are looking to join our bank accounts. Currently we both work, split our expenses and have everything seperate. We aren’t married or engaged but have been together for 4 years now. We live together and are in a happy relationship.

As we’re looking to build our base portfolio over the next few years, I just want to make sure that joining our bank accounts won’t have any effect on our borrowing power/serviceability. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Joining pooling your resources will actually increase your overall borrowing capacity a little beyond the sum of what you can do as individuals. Depending on the circumstances this can be a little or a lot. It definitely doesn't reduce your borrowing capacity though.

 

Why do you want to join?

Think about potential strategies
- lending each other, which you can't do if you mingle your money
- bankruptcy
- family law
- incapacity
- death

 

Perfect, thanks Peter. That’s what I was hoping.

Just don’t see the point in taking time splitting everything, eg she pays for groceries, then I transfer her half. Same with every expense just about.. Happy to see what we both spend, keeps us accountable. Also nice for us to be on the same page and watch our savings grow together. Feels good for our relationship. We have a excel budget where we will continue to track accounts individually just in case.

Going forward it will be easier when we have properties and children also. Good step for of a good trusting relationship and will make things far easier.

 

No need for that. Just keep wages separate and one person pay for one thing.

Lots of my clients do this, but many also comingle.

Helps you if you are the poorer of the two

 

We joined our accounts many years ago before getting married. In hindsight there's no need.

If you consider that you share everything, it makes no difference which account pays what. No need to even delegate. What matters is that your goals are aligned.

 

We tried that and it didn’t work.
We are both control frisks and the fact we couldn’t see the ‘full picture’ did our head in.
Joining them or providing full access helped resolved it.

 

I use ynab for the full picture.

 

Don't worry @Hayden94
Likely that in a few years one of you will be a stay at home parent, leaving the other to pay for everything anyway.

Joining accounts wont solve the power struggle in your relationship, in fact it will likely compound it and divide you both.

So sure, go open a "joint" account together and have the $500 a week automatically transfered from your personal account and see how it goes.

But don't give up your own account, EVER.
Example, he goes to pub and spents $100 of OUR MONEY
She buys a fancy dress with OUR MONEY
He does a heap of OT saving for a bike, but its OUR MONEY
She wants to leave you, but you have spent all of OUR MONEY and she can't...

LIFE, its complicated

 

Don't forget that whether you keep your savings separate or joint it has no effect on your borrowing capability. You can still buy a property in one name with one or both of you on the loan, assuming serviceability is met.

 

Exactly the way I feel.

Interesting, have you had bad experiences before? I don’t know what I don’t know I can’t see it going wrong. It will be great to be combined and have a constant overall picture, and use each other for motivation even more.

My missus is the high income earner so I have no issue with what she wants to buy and I would never splurge on anything as I see myself follow the minimalist approach. We both live below our means and always will. We would both always discuss any significant purchases.

Thanks for that. Is the 99/1 approach more normal or 100/0? What is normally recommended. Say we were looking at purchasing a CF property in my name predominantly and a CG property in her name predominately for example. I know I need professional advice but just curious at this stage.

 

Seek specific legal advice, but I think there is not much point in owning 1% of an asset.
Legal Tip 68: Avoid 99%/1% ownership of property Legal Tip 68: Avoid 99%/1% ownership of property

 

Use a real budgeting app. Import both accounts transactions. Done.

 

Been married almost 7 years, and our finances aren't 100% joint - much to my annoyance at the time.

Met in the middle though, we have a joint account where we both contribute an equal amount every week. From this account we pay all joint expenses, school fees, electricity, date nights etc. all come out of that one account.

I'm a bit of a control freak and wanted to know exactly what was coming in and going out, but the above works well. Also means if I decide to go on a shopping spree at Mecca I don't get in trouble and I don't feel like I need to ask permission to spend money on something I feel like that doesn't benefit the both of us

 

We have joint account for decades, no issues, we don't have a separate account the day we move in together, It is a mutual trust and if I can't do that to the person I love then something isn't right with the relationship and I guess she feels the same way.

I earn a lot more than she does, doesn't bother me she has equal access to the money or more
once we are a family, resource in the family is there to share and enjoy by all

I deal with all the finance and pay bills and credit card each month.
I am the only person making all the investment decision and where and how to invest, she has little knowledge on that side so she has no issue with me doing that 100%, she has full transparency to all investment holding.

She gets full access to credit card, full bank account and buys whatever the family needs from groceries to children school stuff and whatever she wants for herself

Everything is transparent we don't buy stuff secretly and we both don't ever abuse that trust and go crazy and spend more than what is reasonable.

We barely argue on any things very pretty smooth sailing but we don't have money stress either so that may help

 

What about mutual respect for one another?

all that stuff I don't see there are any issues with it as long as it not a weekly thing
I mean my wife can go out with her friend once in a while and blow $200-$500 no issue with me on join account or a fancy handbag or clothes once in a while

I can go out with my mates and I can shout them beer and food sometimes racked up $300-$500 and she has no issue either.
it thing you do in life as long as it not a weekly thing

 

As soon as we married, everything was joint. I was the lowest earner & later on the stay at home mum. I looked after the finances from day one & we have always approached everything together. In fact, for most of our marriage, hubby didn't even know how to access the bank accounts, as that was 'my job'. He'd get a certain amount of cash whenever he wanted/needed it. It's not that anything was ever kept hidden, but he trusted me implicitly. We always discuss large purchases.

 

We're exactly the same. As soon as we were back from our honeymoon, we went straight to the bank and got new, joint, accounts. We saw it as another way of building life 'together'.
Each of us has full access, and linked cards. Easy to manage.

 

Always together. Think about how you need to be together. When we married...a long time ago.... we got a joint account and added money each. But soon realised that that was not efficient. So we put wages into that and had some separate accounts each. Time moves on. We trust each other. Those accounts are closed. We trust each other. I look after the finances but would never question a purchase of his. If you can’t do this...rethink your dedication.

Ps. I earn more than him.
PPS. I am offended by partners who think that the higher earner is the controller of finances, and can lose the most.
Ppps. Together 25 years. And money is not a problem sort it out early.