Family Finances Are a Joint Project
Make sure you have access to key accounts, and keep things as simple as possible.
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Newsletter sign up Newsletter
My column on sharing passwords and other key financial information with your spouse struck a chord with a number of readers—myself included (more on that later). "Your article sparked some cleanup activity for my wife and me," writes Dale Tennison. "We went to work to document everything, including automatic payments and withdrawals." They also made sure that family members know how to access the information.
Other readers wrote about their personal wake-up calls. "Our credit cards were compromised several times, and that was the incentive for us to organize our records so that changing credit card auto-payments could be done easily and quickly," writes one reader. She and her husband later expanded the list to include information about life insurance, pensions and financial accounts. For reader Craig Carlson, the catalyst was helping his elderly mother manage the paperwork after his father passed away. Carlson says that prompted him to "start a checklist for my wife."
My friend Teri, one of the savviest money managers I know, took charge of her family's finances when she married later in life and became part of a blended family. When she was planning to retire, she says, "I got serious about knowing the balances in all of our accounts." She keeps a spreadsheet of all those accounts (including passwords), which she updates quarterly. "I tell my husband he's not allowed to change any passwords without telling me," she says.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Readers have adopted various strategies for safeguarding their information. "We keep a paper copy under lock and key and another encrypted on my laptop," says one. "I don't trust security in the cloud," writes another, "so I keep my information in a file on a USB flash drive. All my wife needs to do is look for that file, and (hopefully) she'll find everything she needs."
Streamline your system. In addition to sharing information, it's also critical to keep things as simple as possible. A friend of mine recently lost her husband after a long battle with ALS. She is a professional woman with a law degree, and she and her husband had worked with a financial adviser. But her husband had made their financial arrangements so complex that she confessed she "only understood about 30%" of what he had done. Now she has to deal with 100% of the consequences.
To avoid complexity, the Tennisons have consolidated a number of accounts with a single financial institution because "there's less to document and communicate." And Teri and her husband have cut back to one joint credit card. Readers also stress the importance of making sure both spouses have access to joint accounts, as well as keeping track of beneficiaries, which Teri includes in her quarterly financial statements.
And that's where I come in. After writing my column, I sat down with my husband to review our own finances. I realized, to my shock, that when I rolled over my Roth 401(k) account from work to a Roth IRA with a financial firm, I had neglected to name beneficiaries. I had assumed subconsciously—and erroneously—that beneficiaries on my other accounts at the same firm would apply. Needless to say, I hurriedly logged on to my account to remedy this.
But that wasn't all. My husband and I live in Maryland, and tax law in the state has changed since we last updated our wills several years ago. We realized it makes sense to revisit (and possibly simplify) our designations. Now a visit to our lawyer is on our to-do list.
Keeping an eye on your finances is an ongoing process. But it can be less intimidating if you take it one step at a time and have a system that both of you understand. "Our system is far from perfect or even finished," writes one reader, "but it has given both my husband and me much greater peace of mind."
TAKE OUR QUIZ: Test Your Estate-Planing Smarts
-
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Skyrockets After Meta Earnings, Buyback News
The Dow, on the other hand, closed lower on disappointing guidance from Merck (MRK).
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Do This One Thing and Save a Month of Full-Time Work Every Year
Sponsored People spend about 170 hours a year on managing personal finances.
By Sponsored • Published
-
Donor-Advised Funds: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Financial Planning Expert guidance on how this charitable vehicle can make a difference.
By Emma Patch • Published
-
PODCAST: Tax Breaks for College Finance with Kalman Chany
Paying for College Paying for (ever-pricier) college is a challenge that this consultant meets head on with highly specific guidance.
By David Muhlbaum • Published
-
Reading, Writing, and Personal Finance
Raising Money-Smart Kids A growing number of high schools are adding personal finance to their curriculum.
By Sandra Block • Published
-
PODCAST: This Couple Tackles Love and Money as a Team
Getting Married Fyooz Financial, the husband and wife team of Dan and Natalie Slagle, have carved out a niche advising other couples with the money questions that come with pairing up. Also, where is this troubled stock market headed?
By David Muhlbaum • Published
-
ABLE Accounts Give Disabled More Financial Freedom
Financial Planning People with disabilities, and their families, can save for a variety of expenses in these tax-advantaged accounts.
By Emma Patch • Published
-
Talking Money With Your Spouse
personal finance These should be important conversations that will be helpful in the long run.
By Janet Bodnar • Published
-
The Fallout From Ukraine
economy Russia and Ukraine represent only a tiny portion of U.S. trade directly, but the impact of the invasion (and sanctions) is being felt by consumers here.
By Mark Solheim • Published
-
Are You Paying Too Much for Financial Advice?
Financial Planning Paying fees based on your assets under management may be costing you dearly, in more ways than one. Here’s why. Want a better deal? Consider a flat fee method instead.
By Brent Weiss, CFP®, ChFC® • Published