by Terry Donelson

Created on: June 01, 2009

When my wife and I married in 1984 I was driving a 1969 Pontiac Tempest that she lovingly referred to as the shark. It sat very low to the ground as the shocks were all but gone; and the radio, air-conditioner, and even the speedometer didn't work. It was, at one time, a medium shade of blue, but what paint remained was very splotchy and faded. I paid $200.00 for it on the day my soon-to-be ex-wife informed me that she was leaving me and was doing so in our only vehicle.

For my wife to refer to the car as the shark was actually very kind. I had many much more creative adjectives that I, as I'm quite certain others, frequently used to describe it. I tell her to this day that she married me for my car. The reality, however, is that she certainly did not marry me either for my money or my car. And while I am today by no stretch of the imagination rich, I am also no longer destitute and can know with certainty that she married me - all of those years ago - not for my money, but for my good looks (refer to biography picture) and my charm.

Of all the wrong reasons to get married, money is probably the worst. My father used to say people who marry for money will always end up paying much more than what they will get. While I'm reluctant to use the word always, many of us less financially well endowed, having been ditched at some point in our lives for the rich guy, like to imagine that this is true.

As I've stated in a previous article, there is, in my humble opinion, but one legitimate reason to enter into the institution of marriage; that reason being the act, intentional or not, of bringing children into the world. Relationships should otherwise be the exclusive concern of the persons involved and no business whatever of government and/or any religious institution.

That said; I married on the rebound and with no intention of fathering any children. I married because it was a show of commitment that my wife needed at the time. And I married because, while I am for the most part, anti-marriage, I am not anti-commitment or anti-cohabitation. I also married because she told me she would systematically sleep with all of my male friends if I did not marry her. I'm just kidding about that last statement.

I realize that there are financial and legal benefits to being married. One of the biggest tax breaks for many people is married filing jointly. Depending on your circumstances, however, it may actually be to your advantage to file single or

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>