tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856734926342648468.post2847722340031075947..comments2023-04-19T15:16:12.241-07:00Comments on The Single Dollar: Taking aim at the net worth of the marriedthesingledollarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983910821824106143noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856734926342648468.post-75069916015557077312014-09-17T08:02:30.697-07:002014-09-17T08:02:30.697-07:00I'd better hope 50 is the new 30, I think! :-)...I'd better hope 50 is the new 30, I think! :-)<br /><br />I think the raw numbers are masking some real differences within groups. For married couples -- for a whole lot of reasons, marriage is now much more common among higher income/college-educated groups. So you're seeing the impact of shared costs (two incomes, one house) but also you're seeing a growing divide between people that just earn more in the first place (and are much more likely to be married) and people that are lower-income and more likely to be single. <br /><br />I would actually like to know what the difference between the median net worth of a single college educated woman, and the median net worth of a married couple also with college, is. That is, once you control for education level, how much of the difference disappears.thesingledollarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05983910821824106143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856734926342648468.post-8545450103354024762014-09-17T07:58:14.267-07:002014-09-17T07:58:14.267-07:00Yeah, I didn't really look at the men's nu...Yeah, I didn't really look at the men's numbers, but that's interesting. Thanks! I think on the lower end of the income spectrum, men's and women's incomes have been equalizing for some time, but unfortunately not for a good reason -- instead of women earning a lot more, men have been progressively earning less as manufacturing jobs are replaced by contingent and service work. It sucks.thesingledollarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05983910821824106143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856734926342648468.post-81129854459458363222014-09-17T07:56:39.112-07:002014-09-17T07:56:39.112-07:00Yeah, it's pretty striking, isn't it? It&#...Yeah, it's pretty striking, isn't it? It's a combination of factors. Single women are often (thought not always, as in my case) single *mothers*, which retards earning potential a lot; they tend to work in low-income occupations in the first place and to have trouble hanging onto those jobs because of childcare issues anyway, and they frequently aren't getting child support so they're paying for most of their children's costs, where married couples would share that expense. And like I said, I know that bad mortgage practices hit lower-income single women (especially African-Americans) very hard, and I'm assuming that's where a lot of the net worth drop between the recession and now is coming from.thesingledollarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05983910821824106143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856734926342648468.post-70254215018788682132014-09-17T03:06:50.330-07:002014-09-17T03:06:50.330-07:00Really interesting post! I had no idea there was s...Really interesting post! I had no idea there was such a difference here. DebtFreeJD@debtfreejd.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10029493223308181145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856734926342648468.post-33466128133779801682014-09-16T06:46:44.748-07:002014-09-16T06:46:44.748-07:00I couldn't find it on the census data(I may ha...I couldn't find it on the census data(I may have missed it as well) but for the first article, single men have even a lower net worth of $28,100(about $2000 less) across all households but higher for ages 55-64 $69,350 (about $7000) more.<br /><br />I think it's more of a DINK thing. I would have been surprised if there was a significant difference between single men and women.<br /><br />Good post. It's nice to reflect on net worth from time to time to see how you're doing compared to other people. I'm glad you're realistic about your goals and not super happy being at the median for a 35-year-old woman.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09039057584477635930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856734926342648468.post-1644763947546738442014-09-16T05:46:13.662-07:002014-09-16T05:46:13.662-07:00Haha, love your oh-so confidential message at the ...Haha, love your oh-so confidential message at the top :) Whenever you get around to it, it's cool - I just thought it was fun! <br /><br />It's interesting to me that there is such a difference in the numbers between single- and married net worths. What were the stats like for single-men? I know that's not your focus, but I'm curious if it is a gender divide, or if it's more of a single vs DINK thing. <br /><br />40 is the new 25, by the way ;) Alicia @ Financial Diffractionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05643373008918810105noreply@blogger.com