Here’s Why Maddie and Her Fiancé Are Merging Their Finances

Adulting is hard, and I have been making a lot of adult decisions over the past year. Between getting engaged, planning a wedding, and buying a house, it is safe to say my mid-20s ushered in a new, mature portion of my life that I am embracing.

Today, I add the new adult task of merging my banking account with that of my fiancé. Not all couples do it or feel a need to, but here’s why I am.

I’m a planner. I’m the type of person who writes a list for everything, even if it’s just a quick run to the convenience store. Since I like to plan, I was feeling left in the dark about my fiancé’s financial situation. I know how much he makes, but how much of it is he saving? He wonders the same about me as well. It has me in a state of anxiety when I think about our savings.

Right now, we have no concrete plan. We’ll sock some cash away when we can, but without a plan, I feel lost.

“You’re in the minority with this,” Michael claimed this morning.

From his experience, he has noticed that many young couples choose to keep their finances separate.

“How does that work?” he asked. “How do you map out bills or pay for random things and keep it on an even playing field? Cindy [his wife] and I merged pretty early on.”

I agreed. Right now, Ross and I are constantly using Venmo to pay each other because we like to split everything. For our situation, a joint account makes the most sense.

But creating a joint account brings a headache. I’m not looking forward to going through every bill I have and every automated payment I have set up to switch it over to my new info. But once it’s done, I’ll have peace of mind, and we, as a couple, will have a better game plan in place to set up for the future.

What are your thoughts? Do you and your significant other keep everything separate, or are you on board for the joint accounts? Truthfully, there is no perfect answer.