Want to stay happy? Then don’t have a joint account

FORGET love and romance – the real secret of a long and happy marriage is having separate bank accounts.

One in four married or cohabiting Britons believe that a joint account could lead to break-up or divorce thanks to rifts over spending, a survey found.

Of 2,005 adults polled, 34 per cent of couples had opted to keep their accounts separate.

Around 80 per cent of those together for more than 30 years held a joint account, compared to 52 per cent of six-year couples and 40 per cent of those together for fewer than three years.

Of couples with a joint bank

‘Keeping cash apart is fairer’

account, 24 per cent admitted feeling guilty when using it for personal enjoyment. Of those with separate accounts, 81 per cent said it was in order to keep their financial independence.

some 34 per cent of all couples said separate accounts were fairer because they reduced the risk of excessive spending.

Consumer expert Jasmine Birtles, founder of the Money Magpie website which ran the survey, said: ‘There has clearly been a trend among younger couples, or couples in young relationships, to move away from joint bank accounts.’

Many thought this would prevent ‘divorce-inducing’ rows, so for these couples ‘the decision to retain financial autonomy is not based upon money at all, but upon on the long- term health of their relationship’.