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As I read through the comments and posts on HD I often see a comment related to a spouse’s employment/retirement. Is a two income family as common as it appears to be?
How does a dual income impact financial and retirement planning? Is it easier or more complicated? Are family finances viewed as one pool or separate?
Are there conflicts when one spouse retires while the other works?
Are financial/Investment decisions made by individual or as one portfolio?
Seems like a two income household has its benefits and complications.
We were married in December 1969 while i was in the army. We had two incomes from then until July 1970 when our first child was born. I got out of the army in August 1969 so about a year with two real incomes.
We always knew there wasn’t going to be two income streams. We saved that one year of Connies net pay for a downpayment on our first house that cost $29,000. I was making $160 a week at the time.
Thereafter we set our lifestyle on one income. We have always viewed everything as ours. All investments except IRA are joint accounts. Connie had no desire to work or have a career. She was and is happy in her chosen role, especially now as a grandmother. She did, however, devote many volunteer hours to school and church and community activities. Sometimes it felt like she had a job.
When our youngest went to high school she worked a few hours a week in her doctor’s office because he asked her. It didn’t go too well- our car was stolen from the parking lot. 😩
The dates you mention in the first paragraph seem inconsistent. You say you were in the army when you got married in December of 1969 but that you got out of the army in August of 1969.
My bad, married in December 1968. Don’t tell Connie.
My wife is a nurse and was able to work part-time while our children were young. When they reached high school she increased her hours, eventually going full time after they graduated. This helped a lot in paying for college, and she was also able to increase her retirement savings. During the last 20 years of her career she moved into management, and then a director level position, with appropriate salaries. This allowed her to fully fund her 401k and an HSA. We were also able to purchase a beach house in 2012, and help pay for 2 weddings.
Our finances have always been one pool. We have yearly “state of the union” meetings. We discuss any major purchase, investments or changes. Our investments are pretty vanilla – low cost index funds – so it’s not hard.
We had many extensive discussions about choosing to move closer to our children. But we were in complete agreement on that.
Like all families, there were compromises required. During years when I traveled she had to bear more of the home front burden. The only serious complication of a two income family that I can see is child care. But lots of families find ways to make it work.