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Welcome to newsletter edition #83! đ
Iâve published 82 straight editions without missing a week.
Celebrating this small moment after spending hundreds of hours writing from everywhereâcozy cafes, uncomfortable airport chairs, on my phone during walks, and at my bedroom desk burning the midnight oil.
I wanted to personally thank you for reading and spreading the word. Youâre part of something special. Letâs do this.
Today, in 10 minutes or less, youâll learn:
đ Our strategy for blending finances across three countries
đŤ Pros and cons of three popular financial models for couples
đ Real-world examples of how different couples manage their money
â A readiness checklist to see if you're ready to merge money with your partner
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đŤ How I Combine Finances With My Partner
Do you combine your finances with your partner?
Iâm only 1.5 years into married life, but I have some opinions.
For many people, this is an anxiety-inducing topic.
But contrary to popular belief, it doesnât have to be overwhelming.
Yes. I say this as an American with an Australian wife sitting in Mexico with financial accounts sprawled out across 3 countries. If I can do it, so can you.
In this newsletter, I share how my wife and I combine our finances, how other couples do it, and a readiness checklist.
Iâll start out by revealing our highly controversial approach to combining our finances:
Our Approach
OK I lied. Unlike other parts of our lives, we employ a fairly standard approach. (Come on, we canât be unique in everything we do.)
My wife and I use a Yours, Mine, Ours approach (more on this later):
Joint checking for all fixed costs* - rent, utilities, groceries/food
Joint savings for couple savings goals* - honeymoon, business
Separate accounts for personal investments and worry-free spending
*Not legally joint accounts (theyâre in my name) due to the complex treatment of Non-US spouses by US banks
Working out our legs & finances in Patagonia
How did we arrive here?
In my opinion, understanding the âwhyâ is way more important than the âhow.â
Iâve known couples that hurl plates and verbal insults at each other because of money. What Iâve learned: I donât want money to be a thorn in our sides until weâre on our deathbeds.
Thatâs why my wife and I started discussing money early while we dated. Money philosophy, relationship with money, how our households growing up treated money, and how we wanted money to support our vision for our lives together.
These were crucial conversations.
Fortunately, it became clear that we didnât have a massive chasm in between us. (Phew.) Our views on money generally jived together enough to move forward.
1-2 years before we got married, we opened up a DBS joint checking account in Singapore.
Later, weâd open up both joint checking and savings accountsâwhile still maintaining our individual savings, investments, and spending accounts.
Why did we go with this approach?
Few reasons:
Tackles essential expenses and savings goals as a team - Philosophically, we wanted âOursâ joint accounts for our fixed cost spending and savings goals that we were both contributing towards.
Yet, gives us individual space for worry-free discretionary spending & investments - i.e. keeping separate personal accounts for spending on hobbies/friends and maintaining our existing investment accounts.
Flexibility and adapts based on our needs - We can dial up/down our contribution to our joint account based on our fixed costs and savings goals, while allocating the rest to our individual accounts (Iâll share example calculations later).
How did we implement our approach?
