I got married on November 1st. My spouse has not changed her name yet because we need the marriage licence back from the county.
Going into the marriage my spouse knew about by financial problems. While bankruptcy is not an option I expect there is the possibility of being sued for the debt. I know that anything my spouse had before marriage can not be touched if I am not added to the account so I am not going to be put on the house deed or mortgage in a re-fi.
However I am contributing money to the house. Right now I am just giving a personal check to my spouse but she wants to open a separate account for the expenses.
I know we need to keep my name off it but we don’t know what banks are paying the best interest on accounts. It doesn’t matter if it’s a physical or online only bank, so suggestions are welcome.
Bank interest rates right now are pathetic; one percent is a terrific rate for a savings account, and interest-bearing checking accounts are way way lower than that, usually under a tenth of a percent APY. Unless you’re planning on keeping a very substantial balance in the account, you’re not going to make any real money off the interest. (If you keep an average balance in the account of $10k, at 0.1% you’ll earn about ten bucks a year, an amount easily swallowed in a single fee, and not worth it if you ever have to spend any time on the phone with them sorting out a problem.) You probably should be more concerned about the fees and the service/convenience. A good local credit union is likely met both criteria, and developing a relationship with one might be of benefit to you too with bad credit, looming judgments, etc.
Congrats, and as said if you want to keep your money in a reasonably liquid account, then you will not have a high interest rate. This Fat Wallet thread is updated occasionally, and has summaries of current rates. It is no longer 2007 where you could get an online savings account over 5%. The ones currently are much lower, and CDs are also not a great investment. You two may wish to look into actual investing if you want to earn money, alongside a traditional DDA/savings arrangement.
Do look into NJ law especially regarding the type of debt and how it might or might not affect her.
Interest rate should not be a deciding factor at this point in time.
Credit unions are a good choice, as there are some slight differences in regulations between credit unions and banks in reporting your accounts. (Sorry, don’t have a cite.)