He has two daughters from a previous marriage, and I have two Shih Tzu dogs.
How should we go forward financially?
Get a joint account and he pays more because of his daughters?
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Its rare that two people will bring identical resources and obligations into a relationship.
Thats especially true for blended families.
Id also suggest a joint savings account where you’re able to store youremergency fund.
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Meanwhile, youd use your personal account for things like vet bills and pet insurance.
Where it gets tricky is determining how much you should each contribute to joint accounts.
Usually, I recommend that couples contribute to shared expenses based on their respective incomes.
You might tweak these numbers if one of you has significantly more debt than the other, though.
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Part of my reasoning here is based on the fact that youre planning to buy a home relatively soon.
But its hard to merge lives if you focus too much on keeping score.
Surely, youd have the others back if one of you lost a job or got sick.
But that same logic applies to if you encountered a big expense related to his kids or your dogs.
Youd need to tackle that challenge together instead of brushing it aside as the other persons problem.
Just double-check youre on the same page before you merge lives any further.
Robin Hartill is a certified financial planner and a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
Send your tricky money questions to[email protected].
Probably not as good as youd like.
It always seems like an uphill battle to build (and keep) a decent amount in savings.
But what if your car breaks down, or you have a sudden medical bill?
Ask one of these companies to help…
