Joint, separate and private accounts
Joint vs. separate accountsJoint, separate and private accounts are three ways a couple holds and shares an account. A joint account is held by both partners, a separate account is held by one, and a private account is a separate account its owner keeps out of the other partner's view.
What is a joint, separate or private account?
Joint and separate are about ownership: whose name is on the account. A checking account can be held by both partners. An IRA can't: the tax code defines an individual retirement account as a trust for the exclusive benefit of an individual or his beneficiaries.
Private is about visibility. The owner of a separate account can share its balance with the other partner or keep it private.
Visibility and counting are separate questions too. Household net worth counts what either partner owns, including an account one of them keeps private.
How a joint, separate or private account works, with numbers
A couple has five accounts: a $12,000 joint checking account; Alex's $150,000 401(k), shared as a balance, and $10,000 savings account, kept private; Sam's $60,000 IRA, shared as a balance, and a credit card with $3,000 owed, kept private.
Counting all five, the household has $229,000. The four accounts Sam can see net to $219,000. The other $10,000 is Alex's private savings, still in the total.
- Accounts Sam sees: $12,000 + $150,000 + $60,000 − $3,000
- $219,000
- Alex's private savings
- + $10,000
- Household total
- $229,000
Why a joint, separate or private account matters
Changing a separate account between private and shared as a balance changes what the other partner sees; its owner and its balance stay as they were.
Ownership is set by whose name is on the account. How much of a separate account the other partner sees is a choice its owner makes, account by account.
Joint, separate and private accounts in Taiga Finance
In Taiga Finance an account's drawer has an “Owner” row and a “Sharing” row. Sharing offers “Separate” (“The other member is shown only a hidden rollup”), “Balance only” (“The other member is shown the balance, not transactions”) and “Joint” (“Both members are shown everything”). “Joint” is a Sharing choice: the account keeps its one Owner, and the other partner can also change its settings. On a Separate or Balance only account, only its owner can.
An account set to Joint is shown to both partners in full, except for a transaction one of them has marked private, which only that person sees. An account set to Separate is listed only for its owner. A private account's value reaches the other partner inside the household net worth: an account counted in net worth is in that total whatever its Sharing setting.
Couples & household visibility, in the help center →Key takeaways: Joint, separate and private accounts
- Joint and separate are about ownership; private is about visibility.
- A private account is a separate account the other partner can't see.
- Changing what a partner can see of a separate account leaves its owner and its balance as they were.
- Household net worth counts private accounts along with shared ones.
Questions about Joint, separate and private accounts
How do couples share finances without merging accounts?
By separating ownership from visibility: accounts stay in one name, and each is shared as a balance or kept private. In Taiga Finance that is the Sharing row on each account. “Joint” there is a Sharing choice: the account keeps its one Owner, and the other partner can also change its settings.
Can an account be kept private from a partner in Taiga Finance?
Yes. An account set to Separate is listed only on its owner's Accounts page, and the account's transactions show only in its owner's ledger. Its value reaches the other partner inside the household net worth.
What is the difference between joint and separate accounts?
Ownership. A joint account is held by both partners, a separate one by one of them. In Taiga Finance an account whose Sharing is set to Joint is shown to both partners in full, except for a transaction one of them has marked private; any other account can be shared as a balance or kept private by its owner.