Marriage And Personal Finance IndependenceThe first rule of personal finance is to avoid ceding control of your finances to anyone. They are your responsibility; and the minute you let go of the control reins, you will find yourself with a number of extra problems. Marriage is one of these institutions that make us give the reins over to our spouse. If one person in the relationship is good with handling money, then all the financial responsibility automatically falls onto them. However, this leaves the other member of the couple extremely vulnerable if his spouse falls ill or dies. The best and wisest thing that a married couple can do is to have three different types of finances. Two for each individual person and one as a unit. Financial crisis has been known to cause traumatic distress among married people. But if married couples want to avoid monetary problems, they should be realistic in assessing their financial situation. Personal finances should not be given up and then replaced by the unit fincance. As two unique individuals you have needs; and by maintaining your own personal finace, you take responsibility for your needs. This gives you considerable control over your financial life. It also limits arguments about who gets what in the event of a break-up. Shared equity can be sold and divided equally amoungst the individuals. Having seperate personal finances gives a couple the responsibility to make independent financial decisions while maintaining accountability to the other member of the couple. They both have the responsibility to pay bills, the mortgage, and car payments. If both members of the couple work an equal amount of time, it might be a good idea to split the bills down the middle--each paying half. Money is always going to be an issue in our lives, as we cannot live on love alone. So be responsible for your personal finances and you will mitigate any financial problems in your marriage.
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