Ramit Sethi says couples who split expenses without talking about it end up with unequal burdens, especially on women. He recommends combining income and having one explicit money conversation so both partners can see the full picture and adapt together as life changes.
Why do couples split their money up by random expenses? And why does childcare and kids clothes always fall to women? I'm so sick of I'm going to tell you exactly why this is such a bad idea. Most couples simply slide into combining their financial lives together. They actually don't have a serious single conversation about money. So what happens is one person starts to say, oh, I'll take care of the groceries, the other person says I'll take care of the rent, one person pays for childcare, etc. But as things change, instead of having one kid in childcare, they have two. Or they get another car, they have higher car payments, they never talk about it. They simply struggle more and more with one person paying a disproportionate amount, the other not paying enough, and then one day they just blow up. What if instead you actually combined your income and you could have a single bird's eye view of your finances? And wouldn't it make it easier for both of you to be able to handle life's inevitable changes together instead of separately.
