To Have and to Hold a Joint Checking Account?

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Tim and Kevi Zufall at Bike About in Claremore, owned by Tracy and Jan Whittaker.

First comes love, then comes marriage and then comes combining checking accounts (for some).

What to do with your checking and savings accounts may not be the first thing you think about when you decide to get married, but it is an important decision that has to be made.
Do you combine your checking accounts into one or do you keep them separate? We asked RCB Bank employees to share their experiences.

Personally, my wife and I combined our checking and savings accounts but left her account open with a set dollar amount in it. We use her account for our vacation fund so we can keep track of what we spend and how much money we need for our vacations.

For Kevi Zufall, loan officer, and her husband, Tim, they decided to combine their accounts. “It was simply the fact that we were married and saw ourselves as one person rather than two separate people,” Zufall said.

Francy Palmer, retail coordinator, and her husband have separate checking accounts. “We do that not because we are trying to hide anything from each other, but it makes it easier to buy each other a gift or surprise without the other person accidentally finding out,” Palmer said. “As a precaution for the unexpected, he is the POD beneficiary on my account and I am on his account, so if something happens to either one of us the balances of our individual accounts would automatically belong to the surviving spouse.”

Derek Robinson, mortgage officer, and his wife have separate accounts but also have a joint account that serves as their savings account. “We like having separate accounts,” he said. “We don’t keep much in our separate accounts but it’s nice to have our own spending money.”
There isn’t a right or wrong answer to combining accounts or keeping them separate. It’s a personal preference of what fits your lifestyles best. If you don’t like what you choose now, six months or a year down the road you can always make changes.

Combining accounts is simple, just stop in and see your local banker and let them know you would like to join your account(s) with your spouse or significant other. “The process takes 15 to 30 minutes depending on the services the new account owner requests,” says Brenda Romesburg, CSR. “If the last name is being changed, we need proof of the new name such as a marriage license or photo ID.”

Your local bank is here to help and can answer any questions or concerns you may have about joint accounts.

Opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the RCB Bank employees interviewed, and meant for generic illustration purposes only.  

For more information, contact

RCB Bank

855-BANK-RCB

www.RCBbank.com