Hi everyone and welcome back to Money Girls Quick and Dirty Tips for a richer life.

I'm Laura Adams.

Whether you should merge your personal finances with another person is an important decision.

Mingling money in joint accounts affects both of your credit scores and also has far-reaching

legal consequences.

When it comes to blending personal finances, there are three basic approaches that couples can

take.

Number one, you can jump into a complete financial union.

Number two, you can maintain complete financial independence.

Or three, you can settle somewhere in between.

In this podcast, I'll cover some of the pros and cons of each of those options.

If you're married or are in an equally serious relationship,

that you're confident will stand the test of time.

I recommend that you merge your finances 100%.

That's probably because I'm married and the merger setup has worked really well for us. I believe that uniting money

and having joint bank and credit accounts is the best way to work as a team to overcome challenges

and to accomplish your shared long-term financial goals.

When you're in a committed relationship, all financial decisions should be discussed and

shared equally.

It doesn't matter if only one person works or if one person earns much more

than the other. You should decide as a couple how to budget, how much to save, whether

to buy a home and so on.

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