By Joe Palumbo III
The dollar value of a lasting marriage is derived from comparing the happiness of the average married woman to that of the average widow. The dollar value derived comes from a hypothetical comparison involving a person of average income who moves from one situation to another. Researchers from Dartmouth College and Warwick University recently found that making a widow just as happy as she was when married would take an additional $100,000.While it may seem pretty steep, it does show that when married, money does not buy happiness. Whatever the precise equated value, economists also say that marriage is good for you. Married people are overall healthier physically and psychologically and live longer.Married people earn more money even accounting for the prospect that those who earn more money may, in fact, be that much more likely to get married. But, does marriage make people happy? Or do happy people get married? What about those who get divorced? They were obviously not happily married and had to spend countless dollars in getting out of the marriage and in all likelihood will continue to do so for years to come.The study says that those people who get divorced do get happier when they initially get divorced, but become decidedly less happy than those who get married and stay that way. In essence, the novelty of being single again wears off, with a lot less money in your pocket.So how's business in terms of marriage? The best financial advice to give on marriage is get married and stay that way. Like all good investments, there will be ups and downs. Just remember why you invested in your marriage.Joseph J. Palumbo III is the managing director for the Palco Group Inc. The Palco Group deals in asset management, private finance funding, and business consulting. Palumbo can be reached at palcogroup@aol.com or 718-461-8317, 516-297-4034.
