THINK TWICE ABOUT MERGING ALL ACCOUNTS
A survey by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management of affluent Americans found that 89 percent of married couples manage their money jointly. On the other hand, merging or sharing all accounts can be problematic, according to U.S. News and World Report. Each half of the couple has his or her own credit score, regardless whether your accounts are merged or not. Taking charge of certain bills, with your name on the account, that you alone pay helps build a credit score that can be instrumental should you ever need to borrow money on your own. And, depending how much cash you keep in the bank, separate accounts can be beneficial. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insures up to $250,000 per account, so maintaining separate accounts can protect more money.