Does getting married actually save you money (in the long-run)?

[ExcuseMyIgnorance]

I think it does. Tax breaks plus a roommate for life seems like a pretty good deal to me. However, some married people balk at me when I say this. Although they can never say why they aren't better off after getting married.

If you're married, how has your financial situation changed? For better or for worse? *lololol*

[FIREseeker]

I think it definitely does help. As long as both people work. Income can double but expenses rarely do. As you said, room mate for life.

[Singuy]

Sometimes getting married ends up costing MORE in taxes than to stay un-married but room together.

I actually tried to look for an Officiant who would do the ceremony but not the actual marriage liscense but couldn't find any.

If the couple makes the same amount of money, then there is a tax penalty. It would of been a 5k difference for my wife and I but the penalty depends on the household income.
Another thing I can no longer claim when married is "head of the household"..another 700 dollars or so in penalty for me.

Other than that, most marriages are more beneficial financially.

[disneysteve]

I just celebrated my 23rd anniversary so we're in this for the long haul, but I've said many times, financially I would be far better off had I remained single. Getting married also led to having a child so that expense needs to be factored in too.

I suppose if my wife earned a good income, the answer might be different but that's never been our situation. When she was working, she made about 20% of what I earn and for about half our marriage she has been at home.

Obviously, I didn't marry for financial reasons.

[moneybags]

I think it depends on the circumstances. My 2 kids are in college. We do not qualify for any financial aid due to DH's income. I joked that we should get divorced, he takes the money, I take the kids and qualify for aid. Another option was for my kids to get married (to another unemployed student). They would then be considered independent and qualify for financial aid.

Seriously, I have suggested to people that they don't get married for this reason. I know 2 couples where the one parent has very low income and custody of soon to be college age children. If they marry their partner who earns a lot of income, they will lose potential college aid. Also, as the previous poster noted, for tax purposes, they can't claim head of household, and depending on circumstances, they could lose a few tax credits, especially if they have a low income and their new spouse earns a lot.

[Fishindude77]

NO !
My wife of 32 years works a bit part time, but income is not significant. We have two spending off of one income.

[ronb]

I think it depends on the circumstances. My 2 kids are in college. We do not qualify for any financial aid due to DH's income. I joked that we should get divorced, he takes the money, I take the kids and qualify for aid. Another option was for my kids to get married (to another unemployed student). They would then be considered independent and qualify for financial aid.

Seriously, I have suggested to people that they don't get married for this reason. I know 2 couples where the one parent has very low income and custody of soon to be college age children. If they marry their partner who earns a lot of income, they will lose potential college aid. Also, as the previous poster noted, for tax purposes, they can't claim head of household, and depending on circumstances, they could lose a few tax credits, especially if they have a low income and their new spouse earns a lot.

Reminds me of what my parents went through when I was a college student. People always think college is super fun but it was a really rough time for my family. :/

[FLA]

I'd have to say maybe, sort of but realistically, 51% of marriages end in divorce and to me, that has negated any sort of money ever saved by being married. Before taking the leap, I suggest thinking long and hard if you want children and what parenting styles you plan to use, does this person handle money in a similar fashion to me, and despite loving someone very much, just think as best you can guess, how would your spouse handle a divorce situation, especially with kids involved?

I had a 7 yr relationship after my divorce, we lived an hour apart, no one wanted to uproot kids, so we planned to wait until they are launched before moving in or getting married. Over those years, as I learned more about this lovely, truly good man, I realized what we did not have in common, particularly good money management, would probably lead to an unhappy marriage. Good test run but 7 years is a bit much, lol. That marriage maybe would've saved me on housing and 2 can live cheaper than 1, blah, blah, blah but another divorce or unhappiness was not my wish, so I feel like I dodged a fiscal bullet.

[disneysteve]

51% of marriages end in divorce

Off-topic but I always hate when people throw out this statistic. IT SIMPLY ISN'T TRUE! In fact, it was never true. It was a misinterpretation of the statistics during a very brief period of time.

The divorce rate peaked about 35 years ago and has been steadily falling ever since. The vast majority of marriages that occurred over the past 20 or so years will not end in divorce.

[FLA]

should've looked it up, heard it so much, assumed it's true, my apologies

[disneysteve]

should've looked it up, heard it so much, assumed it's true, my apologies

No worries. Lots of people think it's true because they've heard it so many times.

Basically, what happened was that one year (late 1970s I think) there were something like 2 million weddings and 1 million divorces so some genius who failed Statistics class decided that meant the divorce rate was 50%. Of course, it doesn't work that way because those 1 million divorces didn't come from the 2 million marriages (well a few might have) and it failed to account for the millions of marriages that were already in existence prior to that year.

So the 50% divorce rate is just a big urban legend.