All of the ‘lame’ financial advice that I read in ‘feel better about yourself’ magazines points to each person having a slush fund to spend with. Spouses need to realize that they are not ‘roommates’ and that, regardless of what accounts the money is, all of their money is joint because all of the responsibility is joint. Unless you are already planning your bailout from your marriage, you should be working to combine your finances. I know it can be done separately, but unless you’re two equally frugal people that both have sound investment strategy, someone will eventualy end up carrying the other person’s load, and that leads to resentment.

Lastly, reaching an equilibrium of compromise about your spending and saving strategies will enable you to educate your children about money. Kids will be lost and will be inclined to just go with peers or worse, advertisers, if their parents have different strategies about money (or discipline or anything else really).