Robert Frank has an interesting column in the WSJ today, reporting a survey by Prince & Associates, a Connecticut-based wealth-research firm, on the price of marriage. Here are the results:
The survey polled 1,134 people nationwide with incomes ranging between $30,000 to $60,000 (squarely in the median range for nationwide incomes). The survey asked: "How willing are you to marry an average-looking person that you liked, if they had money?"
Fully two-thirds of women and half of the men said they were "very" or "extremely" willing to marry for money. The answers varied by age: Women in their 30s were the most likely to say they would marry for money (74%) while men in their 20s were the least likely (41%).
... In the Prince & Associates study, 61% of men in their 40s said they would marry for money....
The matrimonial price tag varies by gender and age. Asked how much a potential spouse would need to have to be money-marriage material, women in their 20s said $2.5 million. The going rate fell to $1.1 million for women in their 30s, and rose again to $2.2 million for women in their 40s....
Men have cheaper requirements. In the Prince survey, their asking price overall was $1.2 million, with men in their 20s asking $1 million and men in their 40s asking $1.4 million.
Frank calls the price tag "surprisingly low, given the new landscape of wealth." He continues, "While $1 million or $2 million may sound like a lot to people making $30,000, it's hardly enough to transform someone's life or make them 'rich' by contemporary billionaire standards."
Hardly enough to transform someone's life!
Apparently, it's been a long, long time since Robert Frank knew anyone who was making $30,000/year.
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1. Posted by M. Hodak on December 14, 2007 @ 13:52 | Permalink
True enough about Frank's apparently elitist perspective. In his defense, though, this is a clear example where "average income" is a meaningless stat. A 25 year-old making $45K per year may have very different lifetime income expectations than a 50 year old making even $50K or $60K.
2. Posted by Robert Frank on December 17, 2007 @ 8:53 | Permalink
Thanks Gordon! Keep in mind, that $1.5 million includes the value of real-estate and retirement accounts. So would it dramatically change someone's life to marry a guy (or woman) who has $1.5 million, including value of their home and 401K?
I'm not saying it's not a lot of money. I'm saying it doesn't buy the things that most people expect it would buy -- especially if they're marrying for the money.
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