Hello again,
As Sandy and I dig deeper into this change of lifestyle we eagerly await in a few short years, we constantly learn there are many things we will need to decide. And so I wonder how many of you full-timers have maintained separate checking accounts. We are interested in hearing reasons for one joint account and reasons for each of us having a separate joint account. Thank you in advance for sharing.
foxriverguy
Howard said
05:28 PM Nov 18, 2006
It will be interesting to see the responses. I can't think of a single GOOD reason to have separate accounts, although I'm sure there is one.
I suppose there are certain situations where it might be better to have separate accounts for tax or estate purposes, but for most of us, it will just be personal preference.
Luvglass said
05:35 PM Nov 18, 2006
Hi,
We have all our credit cards set up for online payment and other recurring bills are automatically deducted from the checking account. When we need cash we go to an ATM or get cash back at the supermarket. I don't think we've written 3 checks in 9 months. We still have 2 accounts, but there's no neccessity and we'll probably close one shortly. If you're not married, that's another story.
Fred
Tmcblane said
06:16 PM Nov 18, 2006
We also have just one checking account and like Fred we pay all of our bills on line automatically. In the last year we probably made it by with $2000 in cash. Seems two accounts would be more of a hassle.
blijil said
08:13 AM Nov 20, 2006
If you have a family trust you might keep a seperate account for that. We have found that any business has to occur in person with the new homeland security vigilance unless the account you will direct deposit into has exactly the same name as the trust. Strange that you can still set up the account to transfer funds back into a personal account when needed and the IRS still wants it's share from the grantor.
So we don't have seperate personal accounts but we must have two accounts. Note that the trust account doesn't have to be a checking account.
Larry and Jacki
Delaine and Lindy said
08:48 AM Nov 20, 2006
We just closed my account, and we also pay everything on line. There really is no need for my account. We still have Delaine's account, it really make's since to only have one. It's a joint account, however we very seldom write checks. We use Wally World as a source to get money in case we need cash. And it never closes, and doesn't cost. I think most all larger stores have the same system. GBY....
ahoweth said
08:36 AM Nov 21, 2006
Hi!
Like Howard, I can't think of a single reason to have seperate checking accounts. Perhaps there are some but we have found that we seldom write checks any way. We too, haven't written more that 10 in the last 2 years. We have most all of our bills charged to our Discover card account, just so we can have a record of charges that are accessible on-line. That way we keep track or where every penny goes. We pay the total Discover card bill each month so there are no finance charges and we get a cash bonus back on many of the purchases. We pay the Discover card bill either by phone or on-line. We haven't found a lot of demand for cash so we have drastically reduced the amount we carry on us. Safer that way. Certainly not as much as we had anticipated. Most places accept credit cards and if you pay them fully when due there aren't any finace charges. I know many folks would rather use cash than credit cards and I can understand that, but using the cards the way we do has worked out well for us. We have a VISA, a Master Card and the Discover and we are certain to carry over $0.00 each month. Even our motorhome and car insurance bills charge to the cards automatically. We have Debit cards as well but have never used them.
2chiefsRus said
06:48 PM Jan 18, 2009
We used to have just one joint checking account. We probably wrote less than 5 checks out of it per year but everything that we had set up for automatic payments also came out of it. One day we had to write a check to pay someone for some work they did for us. (He didn't take credit cards and it was too much to be comfortable paying in cash). Anyway, he lost our check in Home Depot later that day.
I got to thinking about that and realized whoever picked up that check had everything they needed to order a set of checks for themselves. If someone passed one bad check, we could end up with a mess if that bad check caused our automatic debits to our savings accounts, our treasury direct account, or any of our other automatic payments to not process. Granted, once the bad check was shown to be bad, the bank would have straightened it out but why risk that headache?
Long story short, we closed that account and opened another at the same bank that we use exclusively for online transactions. Then we opened up another joint checking account at another bank entirely seperate from other accounts that we use exclusively for writing hard copy checks to those places who do not accept credit/debit cards such as small campgrounds.
dream reachers said
07:25 PM Jan 18, 2009
We have one joint checking account with a debit card and a money market account that we can transfer money to the checking when we need to. We use very few checks, use either debit card or cash we get from Walmart as needed. We do not have or use a credit card so there is no chance we accidently slip into debt. Our accounts are set up through a national cerdit union.
foxriverguy said
09:13 PM Jan 18, 2009
It has been 26 months since I started this post at 9:41 PM on November 17, 2006. I've learned a lot in that time. We will maintain two separate accounts for a lot of good reasons -- some of which have been touched on here.
This is a great forum and provides an avenue to learn much. We are now only 7 months away from our new full-time RV lifestyle.
Life is good!!!
pierreandcolleen said
09:14 PM Jan 19, 2009
I guess I'm a little late on this post, but we have separate checking accounts. We do this mostly to minimize any arguments about money. We have different styles....I'm a former banker and a bit detail oriented (I keep track of where everything goes) and my hubby is not. That works best for us, but I think it's just a matter of preference.
Many times there is only one person in a relationship who deals with finances. When something happens to that person, the other person does not know how to handle it and may not even know what accounts they have. If you have joint accounts, you should both be involved with managing the finances to some extent.
Colleen
Delaine and Lindy said
10:58 AM Jan 20, 2009
Just to add to the other post. We now have started using two different banks. However we are joint on both accounts. My retirement is going to one and her retirement is going to another. The reason is whats happening to the Banking industry, mostly we don't trust the system. I don't remember the last time we wrote a check. We do all bill on line and or automatic withdrawl. I don't have anything to do with bills, my wonderful wife takes care of that. We had some problems this past month, had to replace the Surge protector, and one of the Laptops, purchased a new USB Mobile broadband by AT&T, and a Cradle Point 1000 wireless router. In the past we used Hughes Net sattelite dish for our computer needs. But we decided to use the Wifi system while on the road. Well that was a mistake, so we went back to the Mobile Broadband by AT&T. We had used the At&T air card back in 2005, I must say this new system is almost as fast as DSL. We still will use Hughes Net at home base. So needless to say the budget took a hit this month. Life is good.... We don't have problems over money, whats mine is hers and whats hers is hers. I do get a allowance. GBY.....
AnnDon said
11:21 AM Aug 6, 2009
We have one checking account and two seperate check cards. I perfer my husband keep track of the account and every month give me an allowance amount in cash, but I have the check card if I need it, I just tell him before I use it, so he knows what is going on. When I became ill, it became difficult for me to balance our account, so I handed it over to him to maintain. Besides, he is better with money then I am. When I had my high paying career, it didn't matter much. But now we live on a very limited income. Sometimes one person is better with handling financial matters in a relationship, and the one who isn't has to learn to give it up to the other. If something were to happen to my hubby (God Forbid) then I wouldn't have a problem taking back over one account, versus two seperate accounts, because of his good record keeping (just his hand writing is awful, he should have been a doctor). :)
ahoweth said
12:27 PM Aug 6, 2009
IN retrospect and after the experience of hurricane Ike last fall, I have come up with one good reason for more than one checking account. If your money is located in one place the possibility of some type of natural dissaster limiting your access to those funds is real. We now have 2 checking accounts located in two very different geographical areas.
norsado2 said
12:47 PM Aug 6, 2009
has to be two accn'ts for us she is a bookeeper and I have not balanced my acc'nt in 5 years
Mallo said
06:07 PM Aug 6, 2009
Two accounts? The Brideandjoy has at least six accounts she moves things around in.
I just get my allowance and go on my way.
Mallo
pierreandcolleen said
09:32 AM Aug 7, 2009
While on the road I have had several of my cards cancelled and reissued because of a "data integrity" issue. This can be a real hassle - although most banks will overnight the card to you (if you know where you are going to be). Anyway, you should always carry enough cash on hand to get you by for a week (which I'm not so good about) and several ways to get access to your cash. I'm not as trusting of the banks as I used to be.
-Colleen
Speedhitch said
04:18 PM Aug 7, 2009
My wife has all the accounts...leaving me a no count so I can't pay anything on account of not having any money...If that counts.
RodnReal said
04:59 PM Aug 7, 2009
LOL @ Speedhitch!
foxriverguy said
07:42 PM Aug 7, 2009
Speed Hitch:
Great response.
I am truly amazed at how long this topic has lasted. I guess my original question was timeless.
I posted the question in November of 2006. At that time we were just starting out on the path to an RV-Dream. Now here we are some 32/33 months later and in five weeks the RV-Dream becomes a reality.
We look forward to meeting some of you at the rally in Texas.
Ya Hoo!!
TrishsTravco said
07:49 AM Aug 9, 2009
pierreandcolleen wrote:
While on the road I have had several of my cards cancelled and reissued because of a "data integrity" issue. This can be a real hassle - although most banks will overnight the card to you (if you know where you are going to be). Anyway, you should always carry enough cash on hand to get you by for a week (which I'm not so good about) and several ways to get access to your cash. I'm not as trusting of the banks as I used to be.
-Colleen
I have 2 accounts and I'm one person.
My boring and common last name (Davis) has led to many snafus. With the DMV, the Ohio Dep't of Ed, about 5 cc companies (fella named Jose bought neat things with a ccard in my name that I never knew I had) and the list goes on.
Yep, I know all about identity theft. So much easier than anyone thinks....
A resounding "Yes" to having enough cash to see you through whatever. When I was a kid, my dad carried Traveler's Checques on vacation. I do the same. Triple A still issues them and their cost ($1-per-$100) is more than worth it.
Banks, now, are all about collecting fees so I keep only enough in the one account to cover my bills.
AnnDon said
07:44 AM Aug 10, 2009
Speedhitch - atleast you seem to be able to afford paying attention!!! LOL!!!
TrishTravco, et. al - Yes we know all too well about ID theft also. Our names are very common too. And our mailbox was at the end of our driveway (almost a mile long) and out of site of our home (and anyone else's). Someone set up a business using our address, we didn't even know it till it was too late. We went to the State Police to report ID Theft and they said there was nothing they could do. So we spoke to a few different attornies and we were all told basically the same thing from each. It would cost us about $30K each to start the clean up of the ID theft or we could file for bankruptcy at about $1K. My husband and haven't had credit cards in over 10 years by our own choice. The only expense that we had financed was our home, we always paid cash, and now due to someone elses greed, we have no credit at all, even if we needed it. One of our friends (years ago) had ID theft, she was able to afford an attorney, but after it was said and done, she ended up with a 10 digit ID number from the gov't and can not even use her SS# and she is out all the money she paid the attorney and still has no credit. They are sad times we live in. I don't know how others can keep on top of such radical and fast changes. I just through my hands in the air and gave up.
TrishsTravco said
10:49 AM Aug 10, 2009
I doubt these times are any sadder than the ones 3 generations ago or 400 years ago.
There's no cure for or laws against greed or malice, never have been.
Sure ought to have some against incompetence, though.
Three years ago, the Oh Dep't of Ed screwed up royally. Anyone remember the story of the ZIP drive sent home with an employee (for safekeeping) and was subsequently stolen?
Yeppir, my name, my teaching ID, all my information was contained on that drive.
Me and 5,000 others....
And mistakes happen... *shrug*
In '81, I got a ticket for a California stop at a light.
Judge yelled at me about "petty theft" ...huh?? Another woman --with the same name!-- was in court that night for shoplifting. You'd think someone would look at dates, right. Just not the judge or his staff...
The "other" Davis was (is) 15 years older than me with a different address in a different county!
Clerk sent her information under my SS# to the DMV.
3 years and as many thousands later, I was at last "exonerated" of traffic crimes I never committed.
So, I've learned. Must have a cash-stash. Must have another account that only *I* can access.
Tim & Robyn said
12:52 PM Aug 10, 2009
My wife was the victim of identity theft, and it has been a nightmare. The credit reporting agencies don't verify the accuracy of the information supplied to them, they only verify that they have accurately listed the information that was provided to them.
There are some things you can do: put a stop on all new accounts with all three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, Transunion) so that no new accounts can be opened in your name without you being contacted first. At the very least that documents with them that you believe you have been a victim of identity theft.
If you have been the victim of identity theft, you need to file a police report.... none of the credit reporting agencies will remove bogus claims from your credit report without a copy of one. In some cases the thieves are so stupid as to list an address where you have never lived. That's pretty easy to document. But by the time you catch on to what's happening, they have very likely moved on.
It is a major pain, and it takes time, but you can get negative reports resulting from identity theft removed from your credit reports. This is one case where you're guilty until proven innocent.
I don't carry my Social Security card with me any longer, and in Georgia there is now an option NOT to use your Social Security number as your driver's license number. You definitely don't want to do that in your state, if it's an option. NOBODY, but Social Security, Medicare, the IRS, or your employer has a need to know what your Social Security number is.
God bless, Tim Fansler
foxriverguy said
01:24 PM Aug 10, 2009
I'm back again.
We decided that we would each keep a joint checking account, but at two different and major banks. That way we have access to more ATMs. And, since one never knows when a big bank is going to have some problems, we now have more options.
azrving said
02:37 PM Sep 19, 2009
We have always had a joint account and always did business with the local (small) banks. When we decided to move to AZ...we figured we needed to open an account with a nationwide bank, so we opened an account with BOA. We didn't close our accounts in SC because we know all of the people and we could still get access to money if we had an emergency. We also didn't want to lose access to credit lines we had established after doing business with these banks for 20+ years. However, I just learned this past week that you need to deposit or withdraw money at least once every 6 months or the account will go dormant and the banks will charge you an inactivity fee! We were still receiving statements and still had money in the accounts but this didn't make any difference to the bank. I put this out there for anyone else that may have left an old account open before hitting the road to fulltime. Better check your banks rules on usage. When I go fulltime, I will probably keep a joint account back East and another out West (@ different banks) to make sure I always have access to money.
-- Edited by azrving on Saturday 19th of September 2009 02:39:15 PM
Delaine and Lindy said
06:40 PM Sep 23, 2009
Just a comment, I recomend you have seperate account numbers with your credit cards. Our bank and another card has had to re-issue C/C several different times due to someone stealing our numbers and charging things on our account. Never ever use a debit card because they can empty your account. I will say the C/C cleaned up the mess. But had to re-issue the cards and it take a little time to get it done. We now check accounts each morning. In less than a hour they charged over a $1,000. We still pay bills on line. GBY...
It will be interesting to see the responses. I can't think of a single GOOD reason to have separate accounts, although I'm sure there is one.
I suppose there are certain situations where it might be better to have separate accounts for tax or estate purposes, but for most of us, it will just be personal preference.
We have all our credit cards set up for online payment and other recurring bills are automatically deducted from the checking account.
When we need cash we go to an ATM or get cash back at the supermarket. I don't think we've written 3 checks in 9 months.
We still have 2 accounts, but there's no neccessity and we'll probably close one shortly.
If you're not married, that's another story.
Fred
If you have a family trust you might keep a seperate account for that. We have found that any business has to occur in person with the new homeland security vigilance unless the account you will direct deposit into has exactly the same name as the trust. Strange that you can still set up the account to transfer funds back into a personal account when needed and the IRS still wants it's share from the grantor.
So we don't have seperate personal accounts but we must have two accounts. Note that the trust account doesn't have to be a checking account.
Larry and Jacki
Like Howard, I can't think of a single reason to have seperate checking accounts. Perhaps there are some but we have found that we seldom write checks any way. We too, haven't written more that 10 in the last 2 years. We have most all of our bills charged to our Discover card account, just so we can have a record of charges that are accessible on-line. That way we keep track or where every penny goes. We pay the total Discover card bill each month so there are no finance charges and we get a cash bonus back on many of the purchases. We pay the Discover card bill either by phone or on-line. We haven't found a lot of demand for cash so we have drastically reduced the amount we carry on us. Safer that way. Certainly not as much as we had anticipated. Most places accept credit cards and if you pay them fully when due there aren't any finace charges. I know many folks would rather use cash than credit cards and I can understand that, but using the cards the way we do has worked out well for us. We have a VISA, a Master Card and the Discover and we are certain to carry over $0.00 each month. Even our motorhome and car insurance bills charge to the cards automatically. We have Debit cards as well but have never used them.
This is a great forum and provides an avenue to learn much. We are now only 7 months away from our new full-time RV lifestyle.
Life is good!!!
Many times there is only one person in a relationship who deals with finances. When something happens to that person, the other person does not know how to handle it and may not even know what accounts they have. If you have joint accounts, you should both be involved with managing the finances to some extent.
Colleen
has to be two accn'ts for us she is a bookeeper and I have not balanced my acc'nt in 5 years
-Colleen
My boring and common last name (Davis) has led to many snafus.
With the DMV, the Ohio Dep't of Ed, about 5 cc companies (fella named Jose bought neat things with a ccard in my name that I never knew I had) and the list goes on.
Yep, I know all about identity theft. So much easier than anyone thinks....
A resounding "Yes" to having enough cash to see you through whatever.
When I was a kid, my dad carried Traveler's Checques on vacation. I do the same.
Triple A still issues them and their cost ($1-per-$100) is more than worth it.
Banks, now, are all about collecting fees so I keep only enough in the one account to cover my bills.
There are some things you can do: put a stop on all new accounts with all three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, Transunion) so that no new accounts can be opened in your name without you being contacted first. At the very least that documents with them that you believe you have been a victim of identity theft.
If you have been the victim of identity theft, you need to file a police report.... none of the credit reporting agencies will remove bogus claims from your credit report without a copy of one.
In some cases the thieves are so stupid as to list an address where you have never lived. That's pretty easy to document. But by the time you catch on to what's happening, they have very likely moved on.
It is a major pain, and it takes time, but you can get negative reports resulting from identity theft removed from your credit reports. This is one case where you're guilty until proven innocent.
I don't carry my Social Security card with me any longer, and in Georgia there is now an option NOT to use your Social Security number as your driver's license number. You definitely don't want to do that in your state, if it's an option. NOBODY, but Social Security, Medicare, the IRS, or your employer has a need to know what your Social Security number is.
God bless,
Tim Fansler
We have always had a joint account and always did business with the local (small) banks.
We were still receiving statements and still had money in the accounts but this didn't make any difference to the bank. I put this out there for anyone else that may have left an old account open before hitting the road to fulltime. Better check your banks rules on usage.
, I will probably keep a joint account back East and another out West (@ different banks) to make sure I always have access to money.
When we decided to move to AZ...we figured we needed to open an account with a nationwide bank, so we opened an account with BOA. We didn't close our accounts in SC because we know all of the people and we could still get access to money if we had an emergency. We also didn't want to lose access to credit lines we had established after doing business with these banks for 20+ years.
However, I just learned this past week that you need to deposit or withdraw money at least once every 6 months or the account will go dormant and the banks will charge you an inactivity fee!
When I go fulltime
-- Edited by azrving on Saturday 19th of September 2009 02:39:15 PM