Pros and Cons of Joint Credit Card Accounts
Thursday, February 21st, 2008When you get married to someone, you marry their money. This can be a point of contention for many couples because people have such different ways of thinking about money. In cases where couples decide to share checking accounts and credit card accounts, the problems can be exacerbated. However, there are also benefits to sharing your accounts. The decision about whether or not to get a joint credit card account with your spouse is going to depend on the nature of your relationship and the way that you communicate about money matters.
Here are some pros and cons of joint credit card accounts that you should consider before signing those applications:
• Couples who trust each other with spending money find that finances are more easily organized when they are using just a few credit cards between them. This helps both couple more easily track how much money is going out of the house at any given time.
• You always know what your spouse is buying. Some people think this is a good thing because it speaks to the openness of the relationship. Others think that it’s bad because you can’t make secret purchases.
• Couples may get joint credit card accounts solely to make joint purchases. For example, a husband and wife may have separate checking and credit card accounts. However, they may use a joint credit card to pay for an anniversary vacation or to purchase a new car.
• Joint credit cards force you to talk about money. Most marriages have money issues come up at one time or another. The credit card forces you to find a way to communicate about spending and to learn to make money decisions together.
• Shared credit history. Once you start sharing accounts, you start affecting each other’s credit reports. People who think about credit differently may find this to be an issue.
• The debt stays married even if the couple splits up. In the event that you get a divorce, you might find that you still have to communicate about money matters in order to resolve an old debt on an outstanding joint credit card account.
Whether or not to open a joint credit card account with your spouse depends on how married you both want your money to be. Joint credit card accounts can make household finances more organized and make it easier to make joint purchases. However, they can also cause problems with arguments over spending. The decision should be made after the topic has been discussed on more than one occasion.
