<prompt> Human: I tried searching for this, but couldnt find anything. Sorry if it has in fact been asked before.My boyfriend and I Im 25, hes 29, weve been together two years are planning moving in together later this year. He owns his condo, so I will be paying him rent each month that number has been worked out, its fair, not looking for discussion on that.We are thinking about opening a joint checking account so that I can deposit my rent money into the account each month, but we will both have access to the money. It would be for buying furniture, house repairs, contribute to trips, etc.The only problem I can think of would be that he could potentially take all the money, but thats not an issue since it would just be rent money I would otherwise venmo him forwrite a check.Could this affect my credit? Or cause me any other serious issues? Give me the worst case scenarios. What do I need to think about here? TYIA.EDIT: Thanks for the advice everyone! Just to be on the safe side, I think well look into other options. Would probably be okay, but I want to be as smart as possible about this.  <response>: We are thinking about opening a joint checking account so that I can deposit my rent money into the account each month, but we will both have access to the money.Bad idea unless youre married.Absent a contract legally all money is shared. Either of you can do whatever you want with it and theres limited legal recourse. This means that if you break up one person can legally drain the money. One person screws it up and youre both in the CHEX system and unable to get a new bank account.Theres nothing a joint bank account offers that venmozellewhatever payment app cant do and the latter are all without legally intertwining your finances.Cold hard truth is that 27 of people that move in together are broken up within 3 years. Almost none of that 27 think it will be them, so thinking It cant be us doesnt match up with the reality. You need to prepare yourself financially and legally for all scenarios. You could be unnecessarily giving yourself a huge legal and financial headache during a tough enough time for no practical reason at all. 