Move over, DINKs. SPLITs are the new financial power couple: They have two incomes, no kids yet, and no joint bank account
DINKs have been having a moment.
Child-free millennials have spent the past few years flaunting Champagne breakfasts and last-minute luxury trips on TikTok, all funded by the money they’re not spending on nappies.
But a new financial power couple has arrived.
“For decades, the average American couple sat down at the kitchen table to combine finances after arriving home from their honeymoon,” Shruti Joshi, president and chief operating officer of financial planning company Facet, tells Fortune .
Not anymore.
Now, the company has taken stock of a new breed of couples who don’t share a bank account or a household pot of money—and it’s become so common, they’ve even been given a name: SPLITs.
They’re partners who keep their finances separate while sharing one plan for the future, and Joshi says they make up a growing share of the households Facet works with.
“Our planners are used to working with couples who each hold their own savings accounts, debts, and 401(k)s, while sharing a plan that ties it all together,” Joshi adds.
“We saw this pattern so frequently, we knew it deserved a name of its own.” Why more couples are keeping their finances separate One big shift is behind the trend: The stigma has gone.
“A generation ago, keeping your own account looked like betting against your relationship,” Joshi says.
“Today, it’s seen as a sign of maturity, and people are much more open to talking about finances than a generation ago.” People are settling down later and entering relationships with savings, investments, and retirement plans that took years, even decades, to build: “They don’t want to take those apart to merge with a partner.
And they shouldn’t have to.
“More women also now have serious earning power, and when both partners have careers and comparable incomes, there’s less reason to funnel everything through one shared account.” Growing up amid high divorce rates has also made younger couples more conscious of protecting their financial independence.
Plus, merging everything into one pot can be messy; one partner may be paying off student loans while the other is debt-free with a pristine credit history.
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