4-minute Money Ideas

Should You Have a Shared Savings Account With Your Spouse? By Douglas Goldstein, CFP® What’s the best way to invest with your spouse? Should you have a shared savings account or separate accounts? Whenever I help a couple set up U.S.-based brokerage and investment accounts, I ask whether they want a “joint” account, or whether they want to keep their money separate. Shouldn’t couples always invest together? In an ideal world, spouses would combine both their personal and their financial affairs. But given the complexities of today’s family structure, one account type doesn’t meet everyone’s needs. Some couples enter matrimony on equal financial footing, while others have children from previous marriages, and debts from the past. Before deciding on the structure of the account, therefore, consider each party’s assets, obligations, and needs. Money should not become a power tool in a marriage. Benefits of a joint account A joint account often makes sense as either owner can give trade orders in a joint brokerag