"If you look at gender-specific claims statistics, most female claims are for cancer and very few for heart attacks. With men it’s the other way around.”
Alan Lakey
“What’s mine is yours, and what is yours is mine” is embedded into our collective consciousness on marriage, thanks to William Shakespeare. But, after 20 years of wedded bliss, my husband and I still haven’t done any merging of our finances, apart from the mortgage.
We’ve toddled along quite nicely, keeping our banking, savings and investments separate.
It’s pleasing to know this is commonplace. Malvee Vaja, an adviser with Rathbones Financial Planning, says: “Increasingly, as more and more women are taking on better-paid and senior positions, we see clients keeping their finances separate; whether married or not.” Nevertheless, I’ve found myself occasionally wondering if our reluctance to have a joint bank account is a reflection on the quality of our relationship.
