Investment Tip #3065: Stay Married
I'm not sure whether I should file this one under 'Investment' or 'Insurance' as it seems staying married can be viewed either way. Very few days pass by where there isn't some talk about a celebrity couple who are in the process of signing pre-nuptial agreements. Yet for the commoners we don't usually have this process in place. Perhaps we're idealists hoping that the marriage will survive and we will all live happily ever after...
The truth is that many marriages that begin don't last. I won't quote any stats here for I'm sure you've all heard them but more importantly I think they are generally flawed (most figures quoted take the current annual weddings and divide them by the annual divorce numbers. Therefore, if you were married in 1963 yet applied for a divorce in 2006 the statisticians would offset your divorce against the 2006 marriages - not the 1963 marriages).
Anyway, regardless of how they arrive at their figures statistics are still showing us that divorce rates are high. And, while these rates are so high the only ones making money are the lawyers as family breakdown is also financial breakdown.
Divorce is rarely an amicable solution. Each party feels hurt by the other and wants to see their partner have at best only a half share but more commonly much less than half. Therefore all assets need to be disposed of, and usually as soon as possible, in order that each partner can then get on with their own life quickly. However when it comes to investments and financial savvy every investor knows the worst time to sell an asset is immediately.
Savvy investors also know that the best time to buy an asset is when there is a divorcee sale.
So my investment tip is to stay together. I'm not advocating staying together for the sake of money alone as 8% of surveyed respondents claimed, but if the marriage was worth starting then surely it's worth keeping. If you choose not to stay together then it may pay to consider the financial ramifications of this decision before you opt out.
Sometimes jumping from a sinking ship is the best decision but you may want to know what it is your jumping "into" to get away "from." Like the old cliche, "from the frying pan into the fire."
Here's a couple of financial questions you might want to ask yourself before you start scribbling your autograph on the divorce papers;
- What's the best deal I'm going to end up with?
- If the house gets sold, what's the best price that we will secure for it right now?
- If kids are involved, what will the maintenance fees do to my weekly cash flow?
- How long is it going to take me to get back to the financial position that I currently enjoy?
- If the average family lawyer costs each party approx $5k each, what would I rather have spent this money on, and could it have been spent improving my marriage instead?
Your marriage is a relationship that you have invested some considerable time into and if it seems the only way to go forward is to step backwards then it may be worth considering ways to move sideways.
To add an addendum to my investment tip I would say; Stay Married; or at least exhaust every possible option to move forwards together.
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Comments
Having been through a divorce, I can tell you it's never planned for. Not only do you end up fighting over every penny, emptying out bank accounts, etc.. Your head is also messed up. So don't plan on making much money while the whole thing is going on. That might end up costing you more than assets you already have.
Yes, it's a set back to say the least.
Of course you'll want to get married again. So plan on forking out for another wedding too...LOL
- Bryan
http://www.BryanCFleming.com
Posted by: Bryan Fleming | July 11, 2006 6:13 AM
Cheers for the comment Bryan. You added to my point especially concerning how hard it is to make decisions when your emotions are so intricately entwined in the whole process.
All the best when the next marriage does begin.
Posted by: Stuart | July 11, 2006 6:58 AM