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loralee_2007

Spitzer & the $$ lessons it teaches for all spouses

loralee_2007
16 years ago

Hi all,

I have never posted to this section of the forum, but I am continually shocked when I hear news of spouses who don't monitor their financial status, including bank accounts.

Tips:

- If your spouse has a separate banking account, ask yourself why?

- Will your spouse share the statement, and if not, seriously question why not!

Not all spouses share banking accounts, either for tax reasons etc., so simply having a separate account does not mean anything negative, but ensure you know what is going on in that account and "where" you're money is going.

As a personal story, DH used to handle our finances. And a year after our line of credit financed renovations we were not much closer to paying it off (about $2000). I took over, and put us on a budget, and we had our line of credit paid off in 22 months($35000).

My point is, after reviewing DH's repayment methods - of which I only had access since we have FULL disclosure of our accounts - I was not satisfied on the repayment rate and then came up with my own repayment schedule, complete with "allowance", and it worked for us.

But I sincerely entreaty every married couple to ensure they know what is going on in ALL their accounts, whether joint or individual.

I also have knowledge of my FIL funnelling funds from the joint account approx a year before his divorce from MIL so he could shack up with the secretary (unfortunate true story). MIL did not monitor the bank account and only found "after the fact".

Please protect yourselves and keep a vested interest in ALL accounts. My heading title is an extreme example of what happens when you don't.

Lora

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