When you marry, responsibilities to your wife and children create new questions that complicate life. When I talk to financial advisors and manage my assets/will/etc., they always talk about how little life insurance I have and my abject lack of short term disability insurance. Truth be told, at the moment I need neither because nobody depends on my wages except for he who earns them, and if I die, I own enough to cover the disposition of my remains.
Money management is a difficult thing. At the time I married, I was not as on the ball as I believed myself to be or as much as I am now, so my wife took over our financial planning state. However, we incurred a myriad of exigent expenses occassioned by inconsistency in her attention to the mail. She will tell you she took care of the finances, but we had no savings, considerable debt, and we were late paying bills far too frequently for me. Add to that the complicated width and breadth of accounts in which I have since disbursed my money, and taking care of everything becomes quite a chore.
A few years ago I started compiling a database that listed everywhere I had an account, usernames, passwords, account numbers, etc., so that if I died someone could manage my accounts and responsibilities. When the time comes and I have sufficient money, I'm considering establishing a charitable trust arrangement with Hillsdale College as a way to protect my money from taxes.
The biggest single boon on my financial state thus far has been my divorce ironically. Despite losing the money she earned while married, not only am I still debt free, but I am saving 30% of MY income every month. True, I go without many "necessities" like internet, cable TV, and a cell phone (personal anyway), and I drive a 1995 Saturn SL1 that requires occassional repair but otherwise belongs to me outright. I don't buy a big gulp Diet Coke every day, pick up takeout for lunch, take off work to take care of things she wanted, plus I lost the money drain that was her "business". She was very much like one of those kids in the checkout line who throws a tantrum when she can't get everything she wants.
Truth be told, I capitulated largely to her every demand. The divorce too was actually something for which she pressed. She, like so many other people, wanted the standard of living at 23 that it took her parents 20 years to amass. The house and truck were both purchased at her insistence, plus all the charitable gifting she did (never to me unless at my expense like when she charged $400 in tools for me on a credit card for which I eventually had to pay the bill), etc.
Despite being lonely, anyone who knows me sees a change in my disposition and outlook with my divorce as compared to before. It may not be good for man to be alone, but it's better for me not to be with her.
And if I remarry, then I'll worry about those other things.
Money management is a difficult thing. At the time I married, I was not as on the ball as I believed myself to be or as much as I am now, so my wife took over our financial planning state. However, we incurred a myriad of exigent expenses occassioned by inconsistency in her attention to the mail. She will tell you she took care of the finances, but we had no savings, considerable debt, and we were late paying bills far too frequently for me. Add to that the complicated width and breadth of accounts in which I have since disbursed my money, and taking care of everything becomes quite a chore.
A few years ago I started compiling a database that listed everywhere I had an account, usernames, passwords, account numbers, etc., so that if I died someone could manage my accounts and responsibilities. When the time comes and I have sufficient money, I'm considering establishing a charitable trust arrangement with Hillsdale College as a way to protect my money from taxes.
The biggest single boon on my financial state thus far has been my divorce ironically. Despite losing the money she earned while married, not only am I still debt free, but I am saving 30% of MY income every month. True, I go without many "necessities" like internet, cable TV, and a cell phone (personal anyway), and I drive a 1995 Saturn SL1 that requires occassional repair but otherwise belongs to me outright. I don't buy a big gulp Diet Coke every day, pick up takeout for lunch, take off work to take care of things she wanted, plus I lost the money drain that was her "business". She was very much like one of those kids in the checkout line who throws a tantrum when she can't get everything she wants.
Truth be told, I capitulated largely to her every demand. The divorce too was actually something for which she pressed. She, like so many other people, wanted the standard of living at 23 that it took her parents 20 years to amass. The house and truck were both purchased at her insistence, plus all the charitable gifting she did (never to me unless at my expense like when she charged $400 in tools for me on a credit card for which I eventually had to pay the bill), etc.
Despite being lonely, anyone who knows me sees a change in my disposition and outlook with my divorce as compared to before. It may not be good for man to be alone, but it's better for me not to be with her.
And if I remarry, then I'll worry about those other things.
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