How to Measure The Power of Marriage: Wedding Bliss and Money

The crew is together and today we discuss Lawrence’s family’s millionaire status and the significance of partnership and marriage. While single people can become millionaires, most millionaires are married and stay married. Couples who get and stay married can have as much as four times the wealth of their single or divorced peers.

Besides romance and finances, you also are more likely to experience psychological joy.

Table of Contents

Benefits of Married Living Jointly

There are four main benefits to marriage. They include but are not limited to reductions in taxes, efficient annual expenses, investment contribution terms, and even social security.

The first benefit and often overlooked is generally happiness. No long are your weekends relegated to the search. Yeah, you are going out but if we were being real, we are going out trying to find someone. As such, dating is expensive. The average date is up to $125 a night. If you do that for 48 out of 52 weeks, that’s an easy $6,000.

Combined Income and combined expenses

A couple’s combined income may well place them in a lower tax bracket than the higher-income spouse would pay as an individual. If both individuals were bringing in north of $60,000 a year, they are now making over $100,000. In addition to spending less, why? Combining expenses can save as much as 40 percent of their original separate expenses. For example, if both spend on average $60,000 a year, they will likely keep the cost $72,000. Coincidentally, that’s the same amount for the median home expenses for 2022.

If each spouse has a different employer, each can choose the better of two health insurance plans. Car insurance and home insurance coverage are cheaper for two than for one. Even travel tends to come with a single’s double occupancy tax.

People who say “I do” also have access to various tax breaks that can give them a financial edge when it comes to building wealth. For instance, married couples filing their taxes jointly get a standard deduction of $27,700 in 2023, while single filers get a $13,850 deduction.

In the long run, the lower-paid spouse may be eligible for a larger Social Security benefit than the person’s solo income would allow. The annual income limitations for IRA contributions by married couples are based on joint income, allowing for far higher savings. Read the details here, Why Marriage Makes Financial Sense.

Money, Stories, and Overall Gratitude

The Financial Griot is a play on two words (Finance + Griot) that hold significance in closing the wealth gap while embracing our differences. We tell the stories that others don’t. Stories about relationships, marriage, family, growth, and embracing challenges. Beyond that, we talk about Finances. Specifically, how to become Financially literate, incorporate actionable steps, and ultimately build generational wealth.

Can you imagine being a Millionaire in 20 years or less? Yeah, it’s possible. 80% of millionaires are the first generation. That means they didn’t come from wealth. We teach you how. Join a community of subscribers who welcome a fresh take on money.

So there you have it, The Financial Griot, or TFG for short. The hosts were able to amass over $3.5 Million in wealth in about eight years and are on track to retire early. We will gladly share the secrets if you want them since the opportunity is abundant and Win-Win.

Find the TFG Crew Hosts on Instagram

Alainta Alcin – Blogger, Travel and Money Enthusiast @alainta_alcin
Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez @theneighborhoodfinanceguy
Lovely Merdelus – Entrepreneur and Small Business Growth Specialist @lovelymerdelus