"Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary strongly advises against couples merging their finances. He believes having a separate financial identity is crucial.
O'Leary told FOX Business that maintaining individual finances is vital due to the high divorce rates and potential unforeseen events like a spouse's death. Without personal financial independence, one could be left vulnerable.
"You must, in this society, maintain your own financial identity. You have to. Because 50% of marriages end in divorce for financial stress over the first five years of marriage, and even if you have a long-term situation and anything would happen to your spouse, such as death… [and] you don't have your own financial identity, you're in the wilderness in America," O'Leary told FOX Business' Stuart Varney on Monday.
He strongly opposes joint accounts, emphasizing the importance of having individual credit ratings and investment accounts. Merging finances is a decision he views as misguided.
In his own family, O'Leary enforces the separation of finances. He mandates prenuptial and cohabitation agreements to safeguard financial independence.
O'Leary promotes financial due diligence among partners. He values realism in financial planning and relationships.
He supports prenuptial agreements, especially when partners have unequal financial standings. As an investor in HelloPrenup, he sees these agreements as essential for asking critical financial questions.
O'Leary argues that a prenup can enhance relationship harmony by setting clear financial expectations and boundaries.
The entrepreneur consistently advocates for individual financial accounts. In a post to X, he stressed the importance of keeping investment accounts and assets in one's name, dismissing the necessity of merging finances with a partner.
O'Leary's stance is clear: Merging finances with a significant other is unnecessary and potentially risky.
