It is difficult to find statistics on joint bank accounts for Irish adults who are married or in civil partnerships. According to a survey carried out for U.S citizens by Creditcards.com 43% of couples have joint bank accounts.
Most likely the results are similar for Irish couples, but there could be cultural differences that make this figure higher or even lower. (P.S Answer the poll below so we can get some real Irish results).
This also begs the question, what would be the things you should think about before opening a joint account in Ireland?
Pros and Cons
| PROS | CONS |
| Save on bank charges | Difficult to track if partners are contributing equally to bill |
| If one partner dies the other will have instant access to cash | Risk of one partner siphoning funds in the event of a breakup |
| Easier to assess your finances as a couple as everything will be in one place | Your partner will be able to see every purchase you make |
| Couples tend to work better as a team towards goals such as a house deposit | Loss of financial independence |
Opening a joint bank account is another step a couple can take to tie themselves together as a team. Even though it can simplify family’s management of its finances and budgets, maybe its not for every couple. A lot will come down to personality types and possibly even the financial history of each person.
The pros and cons will also vary depending on these personality types and this may be the best way of assessing what road to go down.
Basic human instincts are to feel hard done by if you are paying more than your fair share. If you have a pairing who are polar opposites (Big Saver and Big Spender) this could lead to needless tension.
The saver might feel like they have lost complete control of their finances, whereas the spender will have a heap of extra cash to go and spend on all the things they want. You can see how this could lead to some arguments.
It may be wise to set some ground rules before you start using your joint account. If either partner is nervous about giving it a go you could always go with a test run. Keeping your own individual current accounts and set up a joint account also.
Then you can start using it for paying some bills and get into the habit and routine before fully committing.
Take our poll
I am interested to see some stats from Irish couples and maybe you are too. So I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to respond to this poll:
Joint accounts for high earners
High earners take note, that if an Irish bank ever went bankrupt then you would be covered under the Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000 per person per institution.
Let’s say that a couple has €200,000 in their joint bank account – this is a good situation to be in as if the bank were to go bankrupt they would be covered for the entirety of the €200k.
But if there is a scenario where one of the partners dies, then now the €200k sitting in the bank account is only covered up to €100k if the bank were to ever go bust.
Therefore, it might be wise for wealthy couples who have large amounts of cash to have two joint accounts with two different banks to make sure all deposits are adequately covered.
Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice.