Happy St. Valentine's Day - Part III

Last week, in honor of St. Valentine's Day, I posted about the marriage tax penalty.

So if you were feeling blue about having to pay more in taxes as a married couple I'm here to let you know that you probably are wealthier if you are married.

Sure when two people combine household there is a certain level of savings by combining forces.  But, that doesn't appear to be the only reason.  Most interesting to me is that the education and capability for wealth may be coming before marriage since college educated folks are more likely to marry. 

But, stay married as those who divorce are financially worse off, on average, than those who never married.

Speaking from my own experience, even though Mr. Sam brought a fair amount of debt into our marriage, getting married has dramatically increased our combined net worth.  As of January 2013 our combined net worth is $1,143,223.  In December 2006 my "individual" net worth was $582,800 (this number included the primary home that we bought together and also an investment property that we bought together).  In 2007 our combined net worth was $807,539, which means that in six years of marriage we jointly increased our combined net worth by $335,694 (or about $56,000 a year).