Don't Take My Wife, Please?

With apologies to the late Henny Youngman, there is this article from the New York Post via the California Estate and Business Law Blog:

Couples who stay married through thick and thin accumulate twice as much personal wealth as people who get divorced or remain single, a new study reveals.

In fact, divorce reduces a person's wealth by about three-quarters, compared to that of someone who never marries. And people who decide to split up even start seeing their finances erode years before the divorce is finalized.

"Getting married and staying married is a wonderful way to increase your wealth — but the key is stay married," research scientist Jay Zagorsky of Ohio State University told the Post.

Getting married and staying married may be positively correlated to increasing wealth, but it may not necessarily be a "wonderful way." As the aforementioned Mr. Youngman once said: "I've been married for 49 years. Where have I failed?"