How to Split Finances as a Couple | Quicken (2024)

FAQs

How do most married couples split finances? ›

Some couples pay their household bills from a joint account to which both partners contribute. Others divide the bills, with each partner paying their share from their individual accounts. It's also important to make sure the division of bills is fair and equitable for both partners.

Splitting bills based on your income is more fair than splitting them down the middle. To do this, you both can set up a direct deposit from your individual accounts to the shared joint account for your agreed share of the expenses.

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals.

'It's almost not fair to split finances 50-50'

For example, one partner may be saddled with student loan or credit card debt while the other partner is not. The latter may have the financial strength to carry rental or mortgage expenses so the other person can focus on paying down their liabilities, said Daigle.

The most common way to use the 40-30-20-10 rule is to assign 40% of your income — after taxes — to necessities such as food and housing, 30% to discretionary spending, 20% to savings or paying off debt and 10% to charitable giving or meeting financial goals.

Financial infidelity occurs when one partner hides or misrepresents financial information from the other, such as keeping secret bank accounts or hiding purchases. It does not necessarily involve marital infidelity, though it can lead to divorce.

Don't share accounts. Your business side may tell you to keep money separate but because you're in love, you may want joint accounts, says Kessler. Instead of joint accounts, he suggests each person have accounts at the same bank to make transferring money between accounts easy.

Prior research suggests a correlation that couples who merge finances tend to be happier than those who do not.

So, if Partner A makes $60,000 and Partner B makes $40,000, you might split bills using a 60-40 division. If, for example, the water bill is $100, Partner A pays $60, and Partner B pays $40. Income-Based Percentage: Each partner pays a percentage of joint bills based on their percentage of total household income.

What is the fairest way to split bills? ›

Agree on a fair splitting method

Equal sharing: This method involves dividing the total bill equally among all participants. It works well when everyone has similar preferences and orders items of roughly equal cost.

By age 50, you'll want to have around six times your salary saved. If you're behind on saving in your 40s and 50s, aim to pay down your debt to free up funds each month. Also, be sure to take advantage of retirement plans and high-interest savings accounts.

Consider an individual who takes home $5,000 a month. Applying the 50/30/20 rule would give them a monthly budget of: 50% for mandatory expenses = $2,500. 20% to savings and debt repayment = $1,000.

Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is a method of budgeting in which all expenses must be justified for each new period. The process of zero-based budgeting starts from a “zero base,” and every function within an organization is analyzed for its needs and costs.

39% of couples had combined all their finances, 39% kept things completely separate, and 22% did a partial combination. A final survey I can bring to your attention is conducted by creditcards.com with a sample size of 2,404 adults. In their survey, they found that 43% of couples had only joint accounts.

Money is widely known as one of the leading causes of divorce in America. It's estimated that financial problems contribute to 20-40% of all divorces. That means that for every 10 marriages that end in divorce, four of them are because of money.

Ultimately, you should do whatever makes the most sense for you and your partner. Whether you choose to have separate, joint or both types of accounts, the key is to communicate frequently and openly to find the best path forward.

The best solution to avoid issues with dividing debt during a divorce is to dissolve joint accounts before going to court. If possible, refinance the house, car and other loans in one person's name. Cancel shared credit cards and pursue credit card balance transfers to have the debt on cards in each person's name.