Marriage brings with it many benefits and involves sharing many things. One of these things is finances. Combining the income and expenses of two people almost always results in more money available, but this isn’t the only financial benefit of becoming legally married. Some of the benefits are obvious. Others are less so.
Living Expenses
Many expenses that can cripple a single person are much easier to manage for a married couple. The mortgage or rent is easier to manage as a couple, as are utility bills, car payments, and other monthly expenses. A married couple only needs one of many items, such as furniture. In addition, it is actually cheaper to buy food as a couple than it is for two single people to feed themselves. Buying food in larger quantities is inevitably cheaper and there will be less waste.
Car Insurance
Insurance agencies view a married couple, especially a married couple with children, as less of an insurance risk for a variety of reasons. Married couples gain a significant discount when they combine their plans into a single policy.
Health Insurance
It is usually more expensive to maintain two single health plans than it is a single plan to cover both parties. One policy can usually provide for an entire family, including children, at a fraction of the cost of individual policies.
Financial Stability
Two incomes simply make for a more stable financial reality. It enables the couple to afford a higher standard of living, save more money for emergencies and future luxuries, and weather financial disaster with greater ease. If one partner loses his or her job and must begin receiving an unemployment check, the second income can mean the difference between bankruptcy and scraping by. A second paycheck also enables one partner to take parental leave in the event of a baby. This is much more difficult for a single parent surviving on one income.
Credit Scores
When two people marry, their credit scores do have some effect on each other. This means that someone with a lower credit score may be able to recover their credit faster by marrying someone with a higher credit score. The partner with the higher credit score may suffer slightly, but in the long run both parties will be better off, assuming that both parties are responsible about their finances from the point of the marriage onward.
Obtaining Credit
Lending institutions such as banks are more comfortable lending money to a married couple. There is more security in lending to a two-income family, but this isn’t the only reason. Banks often feel that a married couple is less likely to default and disappear than single people with no attachments. A married couple also usually has more assets, which again reassures potential lenders. Married couples are even sometimes offered a better rate on borrowed money.
Assets
Assets are usually greater in a marriage. And though no one likes to think about divorce, in the event that the couple decides they must go their separate ways, assets are normally divided equally between the couple. Without the protection of marriage, it is more difficult for one spouse to claim some of the assets of the other.
Social Security Survivor Benefits
For a couple that has been married in excess of ten years, social security survivor benefits can be claimed in the event of the death of one spouse. If this death occurs before the required ten years have passed and there are children of the marriage, these children become entitled to receive social security survivor benefits.
Tax Benefits
For the most part, a married couple is able to claim more tax deductions than single people. There are also deductions available for couples who have children. Many of these deductions are available for single parents, but some are very specifically intended for married couples who have children either through adoption or birth.
The financial benefits of marriage are immense. They allow a couple to be protected through the birth of a child, unexpected death, retirements, or even divorce. While this should not be the deciding factor when it comes to marriage, it is certainly something to consider. Your future financial security may depend on your decision.
