There is one way a married couple is supposed to handle money: jointly. Well, that’s how it used to be — after all, American women needed a male co-signer to access credit until 1974.
Today’s married couples have more options when it comes to how to manage their money.
The classic of being completely joint remains. It’s streamlined, it’s simple, it’s what you might’ve grown up with. The second option is some level of separation. This has sometimes been advised in secret: Mothers would warn daughters to squirrel some money away in case they needed to escape a bad marriage.