The more you spend before you get married - the shorter your marriage is likely to be:
Bottom Line: It's no secret that financial issues are cited for a majority of divorces. It's not news that most couples don't set a real financial plan prior to getting married. It might be news that the process, or expenses, of getting married are potentially the biggest catalysts for future divorces.
2016 brought another round of record expenses for couples looking to get married. According to TheKnot.com the average wedding resulted in more than $35k in expenses! That's just the cost of the wedding. The average engagement ring, now more than $6k. Add in a honeymoon and the average couple bites off around $50k in expenses before they even enter reality as a married couple! Some of that is absorbed by family but the financial toll of keeping up with the Jones's when the wedding bells ring is clearly creating a huge financial burden before you even settle into your new life. What's more is that SunTrust just completed a study that found the following...
- Couples who spend the most upfront on a wedding are those most likely to get divorced quickest
Notably, the engagement/wedding rings themselves are the single greatest predictor. Those who spend above the average on rings have higher divorce rates than those who spend less. The wedding expenses themselves were the second biggest predictor. It all seems to make sense until you enter the personal realities of getting married. So before you, or your kids, travel down a path of high marriage expenses they're likely to regret - sharing this information could prove to be helpful and create an excuse to take some of the pressure off of the perceived expectations.