I've been with my partner for eight years, married for three, and we've always kept separate bank accounts. Friends think it's weird, but for us it removes a whole layer of financial friction—no arguments about 'your spending' or 'my savings,' just two adults handling their own money. Yet I can't shake the feeling that in a true marriage, merging finances signals a deeper level of trust and shared future planning that separate accounts might quietly undermine. When you're legally bound for life, does keeping money apart actually protect independence or just create a convenient escape hatch that weakens the bond?