Recently, my fiance and I opened our first joint bank account. It took more time — and was more emotionally charged — than I anticipated.

After spending more than an hour filling out forms and going over our options with a personal banker, we drove to a local eatery — which was my suggestion; he would have rather saved the cash and eaten in — and hashed out a blueprint for how we’ll manage our money.

By the time we left the restaurant, I was drained. We’re both planners, and so we had talked about these issues before. But this was harder. It was the real deal.

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