re: Married couples and joint/separate bank accounts

+1 on separate accounts. Works great for us, has done so for 23 years today. Joint account for mortgage, household expenses, joint savings for various goals.. Separate accounts for receiving paychecks, mad money, side projects.

We make similar incomes, plus he's paid as a 1099 for the bulk of his income. So he's got tax accounts, business accounts, trust accounts for client fees/monies, I've got hobby/side business income and expenses. That would all be madness if we tried to do it out of joint accounts.

Don't let someone else's idea of financial management as a mark of marital fidelity or the solidity of your marriage. Not every successful relationship is based on old fashioned ideas about submitting to a husband, nor is every wife an underearning spendthrift.