Money is such a tricky thing

I read a great article in The Globe and Mail today: Joint or separate bank accounts? That is the question

This is a very common issue that couples face and it’s nice to have someone bring attention towards making it okay to talk about.

My wife and I recently had to make some decisions about how we handle money in our household. We ended up going to a bank and having a very honest conversation with one of their personal banking representatives.

I have to say that it really was like that Scotiabank TV ad where the couple sits with a bank rep and when the woman pushes the finance information in front of the male partner and he turns his head away so that he can’t see their finances. We were both surprised by each other’s attitudes when it came to managing money. In retrospect, it is surprising that it took more than 2.5 years for us to sit down and talk about money.

At the end of the conversation at the bank, we ended up opening a joint account to manage our monthly living expenses. We didn’t combine our finances completely because we both agree that everybody needs their own private money to manage and do with what they choose. We both receive our income to a personal account and then contribute an appropriate amount every month towards the common bills.

We’ve been using the new system for two months now and it seems to be working very well. We both feel more confident that everything is covered every month and we are already making contributions towards both personal and shared goals.

My favourite quote about money came from a true gentleman who, coincidentally, shared more than 30 birthdays with me:

“I never like to talk about money, I don’t think it’s important once you are not hungry. After a while, you’re nothing but a caretaker or a custodian.” ~ Honest Ed Mirvish

I guess all that really matters is that both partners agree that the system that they decide to use works.