Top 4 Reasons Why Marriage Can Be Good for Your Money

Despite high divorce rates and dozens of bad sitcoms about bickering married couples, there is strong evidence that marriage can be good for your money. Married couples tend to have more money than unmarried people, even non-married couples who live together. But is marriage the reason people have more money?

A big debate in America in recent years has focused on the question of whether marriage makes people richer, or if richer people are more likely to get (and stay) married. There seems to be something about living together as a couple, combining two incomes and other resources, and enjoying some unique tax benefits, that can make marriage a good way to build wealth.

This doesn't mean that everyone should marry for the benefit of their finances. You can have a happy life and a prosperous bank account whether you're single, married, or living with an unmarried life partner or multiple roommates. But it's worth considering the financial implications of marriage.

Let's look at a few reasons why marriage might be good for your personal finances.

1. Marriage can help you save on household bills

By combining your personal finances with another person, you can save money and share expenses like rent, utilities, and groceries. Living together as a couple, whether you're married or not, can have the same beneficial effects.

But there seems to be something about marriage that makes people's financial lives a little more stable and prosperous for the long run. According to Federal Reserve data, from 1989 to 2016, the typical married household had three times as much wealth as a typical single person or unmarried couple.

2. Married people are more likely to be homeowners

Getting married seems to be helpful for people who want to achieve big life milestones, like buying a home. The Fed's data also shows that young married couples are more likely to be homeowners than singles or unmarried couples.

Especially during times of high mortgage interest rates, surging housing costs, and big down payments, it can be hard for single people to buy a home. Married couples can combine their savings for a down payment. And although marriage has no direct impact on credit scores, if you and your life partner can help each other with budgeting and paying bills on time, you might find that marriage can help you build credit.

Again, some of these advantages and money moves are not unique to marriage. Any couple, married or not, could decide to combine their finances to buy a home together. But there seems to be something about being married that makes people more likely to become homeowners. This doesn't mean that married people are "better at money." It might just mean that they have higher incomes or more money to begin with. The kinds of people who are willing to commit to marrying each other might also be more interested in committing to a mortgage payment.

3. Married people can get some tax advantages

It's not entirely accurate to say that "married couples get tax breaks." The truth is more nuanced. The standard deduction for single people is $14,600 as of 2024, and it's $29,200 for married couples filing jointly -- exactly twice as much as a single person's deduction.

The IRS tax bracket limits for 2024 for married filing jointly are also about two times the amounts for single filers. For example, if you're a single person with $50,000 of income, you're in the 22% tax bracket for 2024. If you and your spouse file jointly and both earn $50,000, for a total of $100,000, you're also in the 22% tax bracket. As a couple, you still owe the same amount of income tax on that total amount of income, regardless of your marital status.

But being married can provide some indirect tax advantages. If your spouse earns less money than you, that lower-earning spouse could pull you into a lower income tax bracket. For example, if you earn $150,000 per year, if you were single, you'd be in the 24% tax bracket. But if you're married filing jointly, and your spouse only earns $40,000 per year, your combined income of $190,000 would be in the 22% tax bracket.

4. Married people can build wealth and invest together

Along with tax advantages, married couples can get some hard-to-measure (but real and powerful) financial flexibility to save and invest for retirement. For example, non-working spouses can also contribute money to an individual retirement account (IRA) -- effectively doubling the amount of money you can sock away for retirement as a couple, even if only one spouse has a job outside the home.

Married couples with two jobs can also shop around for better health insurance and other benefits, saving money on out-of-pocket healthcare costs. When you're married, you are fully a "team" in the eyes of the tax authorities and the financial system, and this can help you get a better deal out of life.

Bottom line

Getting married (and not just living together as a couple) can offer some unique benefits to save money and build wealth. But marriage is not risk-free; many marriages end in divorce, which can be financially costly. Some marriages are unhealthy, abusive, or financially damaging, and people are right to remove themselves from a bad situation.

But if marriage works for you, it can be worth it to your bank account. Combining personal finances with someone you love and trust can make both of you better off. The extra protections and financial flexibility you can have as a married couple can make it easier to max out your 401(k), IRAs, or other tax-advantaged accounts like a health savings account (HSA).