I really don't understand married couples who maintain totally seperate finances. That blows my mind.

That's me.

My wife works at a non-profit. She loves what she does. She gets paid correspondingly less.

I work at a job that pays a lot more, but I don't love what I do nearly as much as she does. While I've thought about retiring early for a long time, she's not so sure about the idea - she likes to work, and giving up her work wouldn't really make sense for her.

The easiest way to keep everything fair is to keep things separate, and then negotiate how to share common expenses. Then we don't have to resent each other for what we decide to spend money on, because it doesn't affect the other's savings.

Believe me - I've done it the other way, and getting irritated when somebody goes off-plan with their spending is not the way to a happy marriage.

But whatever works for you.... :)

dan