At the latest after the wedding, it comes up, the question of all money questions … Should you really open a joint account? We have two opinions on this. Only yours is missing. Vote below!
Henning:
For me, the idea of a joint account is like the idea of a single duvet: In theory, it's totally cozy and romantic, in reality it's a sweat-inducing stress factor. Of course, it makes sense somehow if you as a couple handle running costs via a "neutral" account – and that works fantastic for many households. But I just find it too much of a problem in practice – for example, that visiting the bank together is naturally expected of the environment.
I have now lost track of how often I have been horrified since my wedding, "You do not have a common account?" For me this is a holdover from times when there was only one working family breadwinner anyway – and the family account was therefore automatically the standard for all marriages.
Above all, an additional account is annoying extra work with no additional profit – apart from perhaps total transparency that both partners really make the same contribution to the life together. No thanks – I prefer to give a relationship an advance of trust that no one rips the other over the table. And in case of doubt, you can always check whether costs have risen somewhere and one of the two suddenly has a real disadvantage. Less administrative acts, more trust and communication – sounds like great buzzwords for a relationship to me.
Marie:
Money and love – yes, not easy. The matter of the accounts is only really complicated when children come into play and one takes on more childcare than the other. In most cases, that's the way it is. Now it may be a great, emancipated and wonderfully hip idea to keep the healthy bit of independence with separate accounts. Sounds great to me, no question. In practice, in my eyes, it is a farce that raises a lot of questions. If I take care of our children together while my husband is working, does he have to transfer childcare allowance to me? Do I have to pay him compensation if I get the better paid job? Do I also pay for his flight from my vacation allowance if he doesn't get any vacation allowance at all? Or do I fly alone in Bali while he tans in the tub-Eickel? And do we really have to think about who pays the bill in the restaurant on the wedding day?
Phew! Honestly, I really don't want to deal with all these questions! We have so much trust in one another that we have a common home, children and a life together. Do I need separate accounts then? At least not me! For me, love doesn't stop at money. Can this "romantic idea" cause problems for me? Certainly! But if you take good care of your old age from the joint account, this risk is really limited. Yes, maybe the joint account is like a cozy giant blanket for two. But even if you sometimes sweat under it, I feel very comfortable under this blanket. Above all because you think much less about money and apples (childcare, part-time, wage differentials) do not have to be offset against pears (Moneten).