Marriage Years

Children of cohabiting parents have roughly the same psychological outlook as those of single parents, and it's been proven that growing up in a single parent household [which certainly sometimes cannot be helped, due to death, etc] is one of the biggest negative indicators of future performance by that child.
The only "real" reasons for marriage are:
* power/money [not so much anymore, but does still occur]
* love
* progeny.
And marriage is a committment that you are willing to work to make it succeed, that you will stand by that person and face the trials and tribulations together.

Living together and getting married are two different things. I lived together with my gf before we got married, probably 1.5 years unofficially and a year officially. The day we got back from our honeymoon, it 'felt' different. If you're just cohabiting, you can always leave and go back to parents or other guy/girl or friends or on your own. Marriage, however, if it means anything to the people in it, is a bond, a promise that 'we'll try to work it out', and makes it more difficult to just 'quit'.
Some states have common-law marriage, so that if you are cohabiting for a certain amount of time, you technically are married.
 
Gamer's Girlfriend]what's wrong with two people in love just being together? What's the POINT in bring the legal system into it...IMO all that getting married does is drags the government into your relationship. I see nothing wrong with having a healthy said:
I'm not disagreeing with you in that respect. I'm just saying that the actual wedding stuff can be very special and lucrative :)
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okay you guys can go back to posting the # of years in marriage...
LOL...this made me realize that Kayden and I are 15 days away from one year of being committed to one another...and the only reason I remember the exact date is because I had surgery that day and was still under the influence of sedatives. :)
 
[quote name='ryosnk']Congrats on your one year! Also let me know how the cake(frozen) taste?[/QUOTE]

One year here on 7/17. I'm having a neat anniversary gift made, so with any luck it will be ready by then.

Also, our baker is remaking the top layer - ginger spice cake with apricot coulis icing - for our anniversary!

myke.
 
Gamer's Girlfriend said:
Are you SURE?
lol...I can get everything I want/need and give everything I want/need to to the one I love without having to go sign a document saying I'm legally bound to anyone. There is no advantage to being 'married' anymore it's just a way to say "I don't trust you and need your signature on a legal document to prove you love me." to the person you 'love'.

I like the old indian way of things...the first night he stayed in her tent they were 'married' and when she put his things out, they were 'divorced'
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There is an advantage - taxes. But other than that, no, there isn't any.
 
Gamer's Girlfriend]what's wrong with two people in love just being together? What's the POINT in bring the legal system into it...IMO all that getting married does is drags the government into your relationship. I see nothing wrong with having a healthy said:
yeah, that's good in theory but there are numerous benefits to being married to someone the two biggest being tax breaks and intestate succession. Our society (unfortunately) is set up to promote the family unit. If you don't choose to participate (or aren't allowed to) you miss out on certain benefits...
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[quote name='daikaiju']I am within days of finalizing a divorce which will have been almost 9 years married, with the same woman for 15 years...this is going to be so strange...I wish all of you the best of luck in your relationships.[/QUOTE]

Sorry to hear that. The Wife and I just celebrated 15 yrs married (4 kids).
 
[quote name='javeryh']yeah, that's good in theory but there are numerous benefits to being married to someone the two biggest being tax breaks and intestate succession. Our society (unfortunately) is set up to promote the family unit. If you don't choose to participate (or aren't allowed to) you miss out on certain benefits...[/QUOTE]

I just said that, yo! :D
 
I"m not exactly sure the tax advantage is true...i've heard more to the side there is an adverse effect. Although with me owning 10% of my parent's company I'm sure it would help his taxes too because they're going to show a loss again this year.
 
Filing separately
If you file as married filing separately, adverse tax implications include:

* You may not be eligible for certain credits, including the earned income credit and education credits.
* A non-working spouse won't be able to contribute to an IRA.
* Don't overlook state taxes. You may get a federal refund but owe a lot in state taxes.

However, filing separately may be advantageous if one spouse owes money to Uncle Sam and the other is due a refund. Separate filing also may save you taxes if one spouse has significant medical expenses, casualty losses or miscellaneous deductions that must meet a percentage-of-income threshold before they can be claimed.

Remember: a husband and wife filing separate returns must use the same method of claiming deductions. If one itemizes, both must itemize.

Filing jointly
Joint filing is the most commonly used filing method for married couples. Why?

* You have a lower tax liability if there is disparity in the two incomes.
* You could be eligible for many credits, such as those for education and dependent care expenses.
* Finally, it's easier because it means filing one federal tax return instead of two.

And joint filing will continue to have a lot of appeal for couples, especially now that legislation has helped reduce the so-called marriage tax penalty.

Easing the marriage tax penalty
In the not-so-distant past, many married couples found their togetherness at tax time cost them. When they filed jointly, they ended up paying more than did two single taxpayers. This inequity arose primarily because of the standard deduction and the progressive nature of tax rates.

When the standard deduction was created, the amounts were based on the assumption that married couples generally share expenses and therefore live less expensively than do two single individuals, even if the singles make the same amount of money. So the single filers, based on the two-live-more-cheaply-than-one rationale, were given a more generous per-person deduction.

Then there are the income tax brackets. Previously, married couples found more of their income was taxed at higher rates than single taxpayers. And their combined income on a joint return often pushed them into even higher tax brackets.

Tax law changes in 2003 have helped ease the marriage tax penalty. The standard deduction that joint filers can claim is now twice that allowed single taxpayers. And the amount of a couple's income that falls in the 15 percent bracket is double the income range of a single filer. In essence, these changes tax more of a couple's joint income as if they each were filing as single taxpayers.

This relief, however, is short-lived. In 2005, the law will revert to the earlier plan to phase in marriage penalty relief over several years -- unless lawmakers make further tax changes before then.

So if you do decide to heck with any possible tax costs and tie the knot, figure your taxes both as married filing jointly and married filing separately. That way, you can make sure you file the way that will cost you the least combined tax.
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Of course, ideally, we'd toss the entire biased, unfair, complex, and confusing tax system and go to either a flat tax or the FairTax, to eliminate all these "how can I best keep more of my money" plans/loopholes.
 
[quote name='dtcarson']Of course, ideally, we'd toss the entire biased, unfair, complex, and confusing tax system and go to either a flat tax or the FairTax, to eliminate all these "how can I best keep more of my money" plans/loopholes.[/QUOTE]

No way. There would be way too many unemployed accountants!
 
Careers have to change and adapt as needs change. Henry Ford put Amalgamated Buggywhips out of business. Adapt or die.
 
I met my wife the 1st day of school in my 9th grade year. I fell in love with her from that moment. We dated in High School, but we went our seperate ways when we went to college. 6 years passed and she called me out of the blue. A few months later we realized we were still in love. Not wanting to jump the gun we just decided that we would move in together. :) This last September (22nd) we thought that with our 1st child on the way that the time was right to make it offical. We felt like we were married all along, but then again something felt right about it. We had 6 People at our wedding not counting the judge. :) We just wanted to get married with a few people there. It was about our love for each other and our daughter (who was not yet there...) Our Daughter turns 3 months on the 23rd BTW.
 
[quote name='OnyxPrimal']I met my wife the 1st day of school in my 9th grade year. I fell in love with her from that moment. We dated in High School, but we went our seperate ways when we went to college. 6 years passed and she called me out of the blue. A few months later we realized we were still in love. Not wanting to jump the gun we just decided that we would move in together. :) This last September (22nd) we thought that with our 1st child on the way that the time was right to make it offical. We felt like we were married all along, but then again something felt right about it. We had 6 People at our wedding not counting the judge. :) We just wanted to get married with a few people there. It was about our love for each other and our daughter (who was not yet there...) Our Daughter turns 3 months on the 23rd BTW.[/QUOTE]

Sounds kinda wild, my grandma when she was in her 20's had two suitors, she married one over the other my grandpa who died a day before I was born, and she remained widowed for 12 years until the other suitor, who had gone on into the Navy, been married, had kids, and his wife died, called my grandma and they got married about 9 years ago, kinda wierd having a step grandpa but the story makes it that much cooler.
 
[quote name='ZeroSupporT']Sounds kinda wild, my grandma when she was in her 20's had two suitors, she married one over the other my grandpa who died a day before I was born, and she remained widowed for 12 years until the other suitor, who had gone on into the Navy, been married, had kids, and his wife died, called my grandma and they got married about 9 years ago, kinda wierd having a step grandpa but the story makes it that much cooler.[/QUOTE]

It's a romantic comedy for the geriatric set! :lol: But seriously, that's an awesome story.
 
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