You may have heard that one of the reasons people tend to get divorced is because they run into financial stress. You may think that this means they simply don’t earn enough money to do basic things like paying the rent or keeping the utilities on.
If this is true, then you would also assume that being wealthy may lower your chances of getting a divorce. If you didn’t have any financial stress because you were making a million dollars a year, wouldn’t that make your marriage stronger? Wouldn’t it take away one of the main reasons for divorce?
The divorce rate for the wealthy is about the same
Interestingly, studies have looked into this and put the divorce rate for the ultra-wealthy at about 49%. For the general population, it’s usually assumed that the divorce rate is somewhere between 40% and 50%. This means that, though they may be a few percentage points different, the divorce rate is very similar.
One thing to keep in mind is that even the wealthy can certainly have financial stress. Perhaps they have a higher standard of living, but they’re essentially living paycheck-to-paycheck, just like those who earn far less. Or maybe the financial stress comes from having to decide what to do with such wealth. One person may want to invest while the other wants to spend, for instance, and that conflict could lead to a divorce, no matter how much money is involved.
If you and your spouse do decide to get divorced and there’s a fair amount of money on the line, make sure you know your legal options.
