Want A Wealth Hack? Get and Stay Married

[james.hendrickson]

Want a wealth hack?

Get and stay married.

Happily married people are richer (by a factor of 77%), healthier, live longer and experience less emotional stress.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I beg to differ James. As a single guy life is good having peace and quiet and not having to compromise or kowtow to anyone. Having the freedom to do as I please is a wonderful thing. Married if staying married (50% end in divorce) will probably lead to kids costing about $250,000 each from birth to adulthood. As a single guy I'm able to pump that money into retirement savings and other investments. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[ua_guy]

I think what the study means is marriage is a common path to happiness, which leads to long lives with less stress and good resources. There are many ways to achieve that without being married, or having kids, or whatever the "should" of the day prescribes.

[james.hendrickson]

I beg to differ James. As a single guy life is good having peace and quiet and not having to compromise or kowtow to anyone. Having the freedom to do as I please is a wonderful thing. Married if staying married (50% end in divorce) will probably lead to kids costing about $250,000 each from birth to adulthood. As a single guy I'm able to pump that money into retirement savings and other investments. I wouldn't have it any other way.

QMM - well, present company should be excluded from the discussion. People on this board are really, really good at making money.

But, there are good economic reasons why married people are, on average, richer.

1. Economies of scale: Married couples often have two incomes, but only need to make one rent payment, one utility payment, etc.
2. Favorable tax incentives: Married couples often have lower tax brackets than singles.
3. Division of labor: People who are married can share household work. For example, one person can work while the other person does the dishes or the laundry.
4. Asset accumulation: Married people are more likely to purchase homes.
5. Inheritance: Married couples are more likely receive inheritances.
6. Discrimination: Its possible that married people face positive discrimination in the work force, especially for married men.

Marriage has a big impact, here is a chart that shows the difference in wealth at 51-60 between married people versus those who are divorced or single.

Source: Ifstudies.org.

[rennigade]

I beg to differ James. As a single guy life is good having peace and quiet and not having to compromise or kowtow to anyone. Having the freedom to do as I please is a wonderful thing. Married if staying married (50% end in divorce) will probably lead to kids costing about $250,000 each from birth to adulthood. As a single guy I'm able to pump that money into retirement savings and other investments. I wouldn't have it any other way.

You just have to marry up.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Ha-ha, good one rennigade, lol.

Edit to add: After James posted that nice graph for intact marriages, my jaw hit the floor and I didn't have any good come backs.

[kork13]

I don't think "get married" can reasonably be called a 'health hack' (defined -- "a clever solution to a tricky problem," a la Urban Dictionary) by any stretch... kinda click-bait-y to say that. You don't say "I Do" and magically have lower blood pressure & cleaner arteries.

Does a stable, long-term marriage statistically correlate with a longer, more financially stable, potentially healthier life? Certainly. Does marriage directly cause these things? ehhhh, I'm not sure I buy that.

That said, I have seen studies showing hormonal differences between single men & married fathers (lower average levels of testosterone, cortisol, and adrenaline, for example -- physiologically calmer). That would indicate that stable fatherhood (perhaps parenthood generally) does physically change a person, which could have indirect effects in a variety of ways, including health, finances, and emotional wellness. But even there, direct causation is tricky when you're talking about life-long impacts.

[QuarterMillionMan]

[Nutria]

1. Stupid men marry bad wives, and stupid men cheat on good wives. Don't be stupid!!
2. Live in and get married in a Community Property state.
3. Keep a good record of your assets and debts from just before the marriage.

[james.hendrickson]

I don't think "get married" can reasonably be called a 'health hack' (defined -- "a clever solution to a tricky problem," a la Urban Dictionary) by any stretch... kinda click-bait-y to say that. You don't say "I Do" and magically have lower blood pressure & cleaner arteries.

Does a stable, long-term marriage statistically correlate with a longer, more financially stable, potentially healthier life? Certainly. Does marriage directly cause these things? ehhhh, I'm not sure I buy that.

That said, I have seen studies showing hormonal differences between single men & married fathers (lower average levels of testosterone, cortisol, and adrenaline, for example -- physiologically calmer). That would indicate that stable fatherhood (perhaps parenthood generally) does physically change a person, which could have indirect effects in a variety of ways, including health, finances, and emotional wellness. But even there, direct causation is tricky when you're talking about life-long impacts.

Kork,

Good points. Like you say, its not magic, but something about the institution matters, and matters a LOT, for a lot of things.

The best summary I've read is by a collection of research findings called "Why Marriage Matters: 30 Conclusions From The Social Sciences". (Linky here).

What strikes me about this is the breath of the marriage effect. It has a massive positive impact on many parts of life - physical health and longevity, mental and emotional health, family, economy and safety and crime.

If you look solely at the financial impacts, its huge on a dollar for dollar basis. The best study I've seen on this is Zagorsky's 2005 article - he basically finds that married people have 77% more wealth than singles.

Now, granted, there is nothing wrong with with being single. And for a lot of people marriage is not for them.

Here is the summary of the Zagorsky article.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marriage and divorce’s impact on wealth
Jay L. Zagorsky, December 1, 2005 Journal of Sociology

https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783305058478

Abstract
What impact do marriage and divorce have on wealth? US data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), which tracks individuals in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, show that over time single respondents slowly increase their net worth. Married respondents experience per person net worth increases of 77 percent over single respondents. Additionally, their wealth increases on average 16 percent for each year of marriage. Divorced respondents’ wealth starts falling four years before divorce and they experience an average wealth drop of 77 percent. While in percentage terms divorce hurts women more than men, the absolute difference is relatively small in the US.

[scfr]

Bear in mind that the wealth figures on the chart are HOUSEHOLD wealth. Assuming intact and remarried refers to 2-person unions (yes, I know some unions have more than 2 but there probably aren't enough to be statistically significant), divide those wealth numbers in half for the per-partner wealth. Still higher for married and remarried persons, but the figures are less distorted.

Having said that, I'll share how I think being in an intact (29-years) marriage has helped my household financially. We do experience economies of scale. But more importantly, we have each other as a safety net which has allowed us to take some risks. Probably the most important example is when my husband decided to leave his salaried job to start his own business, he knew we could survive on my income. If he were a single guy, I don't know if he would have ever gone to 0 income. In addition, we are accountable to each other when it comes to our spending, we can bounce ideas off of each other, and while we can be and sometimes are each others worst critics, as corny as it sounds we are also each others biggest cheerleaders.

[myrdale]

QuarterMillionMan, what book is that?

[myrdale]

A great scene from the movie Bone Tomahawk.

https://youtu.be/Y4Y8dB2tg8o

Also a short video about when the princess says no, note it's Youtube but there is strong language:

https://youtu.be/iNwi_Vnt9wU

[QuarterMillionMan]

[james.hendrickson]

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