My husband and I have joint checking accounts, and stock portfolios for retirement. However, we also have SEPARATE savings accounts, for which neither of us is accountable to one another. We've been doing this for about 15 years - been married for 26, and I highly recommend it to those couples who squabble about money. My husband will never be able to make me understand why he wants another tool when he has umpteen thousand in our garage, AND, he will never be able to understand why I want another pair of black patent-leather pumps when I already have seven pair. We often spend our own savings on one another for birthday presents. I surprised him with a pricey watch he'd been admiring, for our 20th wedding anniversary. I had so much pleasure saving for it, and surprising him with it. 

Priscilla