You know that lipstick on his collar spells trouble but are you familiar with the bank statement signs suggesting your husband is sneaking off with your money? Well, you’re probably being paranoid – we’re sure everything is fine – but if he is building up some secret savings for any reason, well, it’s not going to be a good one.
Here’s what you need to look for:
1) A change in the regular deposits to your checking account, says forensic accountant Harriet Fox. If you know each paycheck brings $2390 and suddenly those drop to $2100, you’ll want to know where the difference is going.
2) The letters ACH – they stand for Automated Clearing House – on your bank statement . They signify that money has been transferred from your bank account into another bank account. Sure, they often appear for perfectly good reasons but just in case, cover your ACH and make sure the letters mark a trail you can follow.
3) A big increase or decrease in the amount of financial documentation arriving in your mailbox. If there’s a decline, why were accounts closed? And if there’s a sudden increase, what’s new in your financial life?
4) Unexplained withdrawls from your joint account. Yes, this means becoming familiar with your statements, says Fox. But good news: his secretly withdrawing big wads of cash don’t necessarily mean he’s having an affair. He could be gambling or doing drugs!
5) If a pay stub indicates there’s an automatic debit going to an account you don’t know about, well, make it your job to know, says Deborah Matthews, a divorce attorney.
6) A 401K statement that indicates someone took out a loan, says Ellen Siegel, a financial advisor. Spouses don’t have to sign off on those.
7) Emails from unfamiliar banks. Yes, because instead of snooping for love letters that are surely deleted, you spouse could be getting incriminating correspondence from banks and brokerage houses. Also, financial companies often send emails based on your searches, says Matthews, so if you see in the subject line “How to Set Up a Foreign Account” you might want to wonder why such an organization is making contact.
8) A small charge – say $40 to $78 – from the local Post Office or other Mail Box service. Time to investigate whether your beloved has bought himself a P.O. Box, which is great for getting paper bank or brokerage statements you don’t want anyone else to see.
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