(Guest Post by Ryan Sandberg)
Marriage and divorce rates are a fluctuating thing that are very often affected by the state of the current economy. By many estimates, divorce rates saw a drop during the recession because people simply weren’t able to get divorced. This was due to lack of income and couples being tied to a mortgage. There are many other reasons that people stayed in marriages during such difficult economic times, but many people are seeing the benefits of getting married.
In times such as these, people who have been putting off taking that leap into wedded bliss have done so because of hesitancy or lack of time. Besides the fact that you want to share your life with your loved one, getting married has the added benefit of making the best financial sense:
Splitting The Bills
Perhaps the most obvious, and best reason, that people get married are the huge cost benefits of splitting the bills. When you have two incomes, you’re able to get a lot more done and increase your buying power very quickly.
Improved Credit Scores
When two people get married, usually one has a much lower credit score than the other. It can take years of diligent efforts to improve your credit score. This is a big annoyance when you’re getting married and planning to buy a car or home. When you get married, you can take out a home or auto loans under the name of the spouse with the better credit score. This will ultimately save both of you a lot of money because you’ll be able to get better terms for you loan and improve your buying power.
Bigger Tax Return
This has long been one of the best financial benefits of being married. When you’re filing as a married on your taxes, you save a lot of money and get more back on your return.
Long-Term Savings
Basically put, when you have two incomes, you’re able to put far more towards your future than if you were saving as a single person. Often times one person’s income is put solely toward the bills while a large portion of the other spouse’s income is put towards saving for retirement and other investments.
There are a lot of financial benefits to being a married couple, regardless of the current state of the market. In no way does this mean that you should get married only because of the monetary benefits, but it is a huge plus. If you’ve wanted to get married, but simply haven’t had the time to do so, it might be the best decision when establishing a good financial base for both your futures.
——————
Guest Post by Ryan Sandberg – a freelance writer with a passion for entrepreneurship, efficiency and ice hockey. He enjoys researching and sharing his opinions/findings on finance, marketing, entrepreneurship and current tech trends.
Dual Income, No Kids launched in the spring of 2006 and is now part of District Media, LLC. With over 10 million visitors and syndication on Google News, District Media delivers high-quality personal finance news and advice. Our 58 blogs inform, empower, educate and entertain the public -- free of charge, with all operating expenses financed by advertising.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
The arguments above does not apply for people living in Canada, not sure about US though. In comparing the financial benefits of living together vs. marriage, living together definitely wins hands down. (Emotional wise, it might be different).
1. Splitting the Bills – you can already do this if you are living together.
2. Improved Credit Scores – not really much of a concern if both the spouses are fairly close in their credits score. On the flip side, it would really negatively impact the spouse with a high credit score, as they may not be able to access the “best” terms and rates as they would by themselves.
3.Bigger Tax Return – Definitely not, now that you are considered as a “household”, you probably do not qualify for much tax credits. This especially impacts you if you have a dependent child. You can no longer claim your child as a dependent, thus losing your tax credit. Also most government programs and tax incentives are based on household income. So with 2 incomes, you will probably not qualify for anything.
4. Long Term savings – This could be true, but only if the spouses work together toward that goal.
PS> I’m not advocating that you don’t get married, just that the monetary gains listed above would not necessarily be realized. My DH and I still got married in spite of the fact that financially we were better off (due to tax and government benefits) just living together.
Not sure where you’re coming up with the bigger tax return idea, especially on a DINK website. Sure, if one spouse is the breadwinner and the other doesn’t work or makes very little, then yes the tax brackets are in your favor. But, if both of you make a good amount of money, the tax brackets are against you — they don’t double at the higher end. Thus, DINK marriage is generally a tax penalty.
I have been married for over 20 years and I can honestly say that getting married isn’t the smartest financial move, especially for DINKs. As IB and SuperDad already pointed out, most of the “benefits” listed in this article actually favor the unmarried over the married. And, the Marriage Tax Penalty in the U.S. is well known. For couples (like us) with one working spouse, the tax benefits are a little better. The biggest benefit is the family health insurance. Although, this is changing with the domestic partners law. Getting married is something you should do for your spouse and your family, not for the financial benefits.
The biggest financial problem with marriage is when it ends in divorce. There is a huge liability which destroys a lot of the couple’s wealth and leaves one or both of the spouses impoverished. People who are divorced are one of the fastest growing categories in the poverty statistics. Despite prenuptual agreements, no fault divorce, community property, child and spousal support, family law is one of the most antiquated and unjust areas of law. Avoiding divorce is one of the key factors in accumulating wealth.