Two become one, but do you have to share everything?

OK, let me tackle this one from the recent post, “Thirty Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She is 30": 8. “An email address, a voice mailbox, and a bank account -- all of which nobody has access to but you.”

Yep, “... two become one,” but does that mean you have to share EVERYTHING? 
I don’t think so.

I’ve had my own bank account since I was a teenager. And now, at the age of 31 and nearly five years into marriage, I still have my own bank account. Sure, hubs and I have joint accounts, which we use for household expenses, miscellaneous purchases and joint savings, but we both believe that it’s perfectly OK for married couples to have their own bank accounts.

Why? Because we feel that one of the keys to a happy and successful marriage is accepting (and embracing) the fact that you do not have to control everything! In fact, adopting that idea will make your life easier. I’ve been told plenty of times that this is “wrong,” but hey, it works for us. And as an added benefit, we don’t argue over money.

But if you think that’s good, I’ve got my own passwords, too!

Look … between work, school and my personal life, I have way too many passwords to remember -- all of which carry their own set of demands. Yes, “demands,” because password creation tops my list of annoyances with the Internet … in addition to some of the people of course, but you get it. Think about it. They’ve gotta have a certain amount of characters, numbers, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, “special” characters, spaces … and the list goes on. Heck, I have to change my passwords for work every thirty days! 

So let’s be realistic for a second – at times we have both shared passwords to email, social media and other sites. Some we remember, some we don’t … but nobody has a spreadsheet going over here. 'Cause in the words of Sweet Brown: “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”

The most important thing is that we’ll both hand over phones and passwords at any moment. It has happened plenty of times for various reasons – whether it’s because our own battery is dead, or we need a favor, or because I need to make a call and I don’t feel like going upstairs to get my phone (I won’t put that one on him, just me).

It’s not about keeping secrets, or maintaining “control” over certain aspects of your life.
I believe that by the age of thirty, a woman should be secure enough, mature enough, and wise enough to receive and give others the space, freedom and trust that is deserved. I don't want to be with someone who has to have access to EVERYTHING.

“For the pillars of the temple stand apart … And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.” - Kahlil Gibran

So where do you stand? Should couples share everything?