Use Separate Credit Cards for a Happy Marriage

When tying the knot, young and not so young, spouses usually take various solemn oaths, which normally entail being truthful and respectful towards your partner, regardless of their health condition or financial situation. So far, so good, but note that God Almighty did not mention that married life necessarily involves sharing a common credit card.

Payment Issues

In addition to His divine will, there are some far more trivial reasons why you should keep separate credit cards so as to keep the family boat steady and on course. To begin with, the fact that you and your wife share a credit card means that each of you should use up to 50 percent of the existing credit balance and pay half of the sum in the monthly statement, respectively. It is kind of unfair if you use 90 percent, and she pays the bill. Problems may arise, however, if one of the two spouses is prone to indulging in reckless shopping sprees or has some other issues related to excessive and uncontrolled spending. Just imagine how a gambler of a husband and a compulsive shopaholic of a wife would share a common credit card! This would be a marriage made in hell, would it?

Financial Privacy

Apart from such extreme cases, there always is the issue of financial privacy that both spouses should respect. The credit card contract is, strictly speaking, an agreement between you and your bank over a sum of money that has been entrusted to you to use and return under specific terms and conditions, and within explicitly stated deadlines. Some newlyweds are extremely sensitive when it comes to banking secrets and are reluctant to share them with each other, at least over the first few years of their married life.

Income

Another strong argument against the idea of spouses holding a common credit card is that they seldom have equal incomes. This means that the one earning more will be more exposed to late payment penalties and other restrictions, if things take a bad turn, and more importantly, if they are not equally experienced in using and managing credit.

Relationship Issues

If at one point you decide that things are not going well between you and you should take separate ways in life, each of you becomes liable for your common credit card debt no matter how much of its balance you actually used. Still worse, creditors may try to collect from you even if there is a court ruling stating that your husband (or wife) is responsible for the greater part of the common credit card debt.

Finally, a survey carried out in the United States revealed the shocking fact that as many as eighty percent of the spouses lie to their partner about their spending habits and keep a secret credit card. So, if you have already opened a credit card account behind your wife’s back and if you suspect that she has done the same behind yours, then a common credit card will just add to your misery!