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Who Wants To Be Rich?
By Keishia Lee-Louis, Sat Dec 10th
Well you may not become a billionaire or even a millionaire, butresearch shows that marriage helps couples and individualsgenerate more income and wealth than singles, and evencohabitating couples. According to The Marriage Project researchers out of RutgersUniversity in New Jersey, "... People who marry becomeeconomically better off. Men become more productive aftermarriage; they earn between ten and forty percent more than dosingle men with similar education and job histories. Maritalsocial norms that encourage healthy, productive behavior andwealth accumulation play a role. Some of the greater wealth ofmarried couples results from their more efficient specializationand pooling of resources, and because they save more. Marriedpeople also receive more money from family members than theunmarried (including cohabiting couples), probably becausefamilies consider marriage more permanent and more binding thana living-together union..." If married couples have so much potential to be wealthy, why aremoney issues one of the leading causes of divorce? I have onesimple answer. When couples take their focus off of theirpartner's emotional, physical and spiritual needs to worry abouttheir finances or acquire more material possessions, they loosesight of one of the greatest missions and privileges of life: tolove another human being.
Money is a wonderful and powerful tool, but don't let it consumeyou. Here are seven ways to find balance and keep your marriagehappy
and healthy. 1. Set financial goals for your family and prioritize them. 2. Develop a spending plan that can help both parties feelfulfilled. A great example of this strategy can be found inDebt-Proof Your Marriage: How To Achieve Financial Harmony byMary Hunt. 3. Owe no one anything but love. Work towards being free. 4. Create a savings plan that includes 3-6 months livingexpenses. Then focus on investments. It may be tight, but tryliving off of one income for a time. 5. Try to find ways to be generous and give to charitableorganizations regularly. If you belong to a church, tithe. 6. Pay the bills together. I know it may seem hard to find thetime at first, but it can be a chance to review current spending. 7. Work towards owning a home (or a new car) only when you'reready. Don't feel the urge to do it because you've had a baby,your friends are doing it, or you're "tired of renting". I leave you with this final word: Richness is not about havingmore money or showing off what you have. It's about findingabundance where you are and having courage, grace and savvy togo beyond your current circumstance. Be rich. About the author:Keishia Lee-Louis is the Executive Editor of http://www.Married4Good.com(November 2005). Her work has appeared on iVillage.com,BibleResourceCenter.com, and in many other publications.Currently, she's writing a book on marriage, which will bepublished in 2006. If you'd like to see more of her work, visithttp://married4good.blogspot.com
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