Marrying for Money Actually Works

As I wrote on Tuesday, a recent study has shown that married couples have much higher net worths than singles. Here's a more in-depth article on the study that I found at MSNBC with the intriguing line that "marrying for money actually works, study finds." The important facts are as follows:

A study by an Ohio State University researcher shows that a person who marries — and stays married — accumulates nearly twice as much personal wealth as a person who is single or divorced.

And for those who divorce, it’s a bit more expensive than giving up half of everything they own. They lose, on average, three-fourths of their personal net worth.

A big reason married people accumulate more wealth than others is simple economies of scale — one household is cheaper to maintain than two, Zagorsky said. Divorce reverses those benefits, he said.

“Divorce looks like one of the fastest ways to destroy your wealth,” Zagorsky said.

Hmmmmmmmmmm. Maybe I've finally found a tip (get married) that's better than spend less than you earn. ;-)

Comments

[Blaine Moore (Run to Win)]

Okay, you've convinced. I'll propose to her as soon as I get home...

[Nick]

I keep asking my wife of five months where her dowry is. She looks at me with sad little eyes and a trembling lip and says, "My dowry is full of my love!" Awwww.

I guess once she gets out of college we'll be in this group of financially happy married people, too.

[Mike]

Nick,
The wife's dowry was more for her than for you anyway. Historically all of the marital property would be yours and her dowry was a form of safety net that her family provided in case you did not turn out to be a good husband. A dowry full of love would not feed her in the event that you turned into a degenerate alcoholic, so I guess as a dowry it fails. As a marital asset though it is priceless.

[Norma]

I have a friend who's key to financial wealth is "One spouse, One house!"