Kevin O’Leary of ABC’s Shark Tank says married couples should never rely on a joint bank account, saying “it’s a really bad idea.”
“Here’s the methodology for marriage when it comes to bank accounts,” O’Leary said in a recent CNBC segment. “Each person has their own and then you create a joint account together. You fund the joint account for just enough to maintain your living expenses and your lifestyle and all the things you have to buy together: the rent in your place for example or the mortgage if you buy a home.
“But that personal account is in your name and it remains that way for the rest of your life. Do you know why? That’s how you build and maintain and improve a credit score. You have got to have your own financial identity. The only way you can get your own credit is to maintain your own accounts, your own credit card.
O’Leary said when people get married they forget that.
“You never want to let the credit score that you get accrued to come from your significant other, in case they make a mistake. you always want to have your own for your whole life. and that means you have to maintain your own account and your own credit card. you can always have a joint card. You can always have a joint account ,but you need to maintain your own financial identity. Forever.”
Watch the full Kevin O’Leary video below:
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