When it comes to your finances.

He says he's pretty much broke. 

They both had "a lot of options."

Online dating really works!

Ouch.

After initially turning the film down.

Needs money now.

Joining the family business pays off. 

Both parties are liable.

$100 million and up.

Men are better off marrying in their 20s.

[credit provider=”Flickr / Cameron Nordholm” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronnordholm/4992713168/”] Couples spent an average of $28,500 to tie the knot in 2012, according to a Wedding Channel/TheKnot.com report.That’s just a couple thousand dollars shy of what the average homebuyer spends on a downpayment today ($31,000 by Trulia’s estimate). 

[credit provider=”Michelle.Hayes via Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhayesphotos/3773046332/sizes/m/in/photostream/”] Why don’t men change their names when they get married?This provocative question was posed in a popular article by Jill Filipovoic at The Guardian. The focus of her article, however, is on how women should stop changing their names.

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons”] Excuse me while I play the cranky feminist for a minute, but I’m disheartened every time I sign into Facebook and see a list of female names I don’t recognise.You got married, congratulations! But why, in 2013, does getting married mean giving up the most basic marker […]

[credit provider=”Getty”] WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton is calling on the Supreme Court to overturn a law he signed that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages.Clinton says the defence of Marriage Act is incompatible with the Constitution. He says he signed the law in 1996 to avoid legislation […]

[credit provider=”courtesy Rhino Den” url=”http://rhinoden.rangerup.com/the-curious-case-of-staff-sergeant-parsons/”] Sometimes it takes genuine injustice to put things in perspective. I was recently reminded of this during my clash with a prominent floral service that failed to deliver a chocolates order on Valentine’s Day … and the next day … and the next day … […]

[credit provider=”thriftsociety via statigram” url=”http://statigr.am/p/349846643071986351_228092761″] The rate of couples backpedaling down the aisle in the U.S. is growing so quickly, states across the map are searching for new ways to ease the process for consumers.Even with a rise in do-it-yourself divorce cases, the  average divorce still costs about $20,000. And not […]

[credit provider=”XO Group”] Carley Roney and David Liu have been married for 20 years and in business together for 18.They co-founded XO Group, formerly known as The Knot, in 1996. It’s now a publicly traded company. Liu says 80% of women who are planning a wedding join the site.

[credit provider=”Julia La Roche for Business Insider”] To commemorate Valentine’s Day, Business Insider put together our annual list of Wall Street’s hottest power couples. This list has it all: Hedge funders who are married to gorgeous former models, bankers who are married to lawyers or television anchors, and a private equity […]

[credit provider=”Web 2.0/23andMe”] Love and technology: A great combination if ever there was one.In honour of Valentine’s Day, we’ve created this mega-list of the tech industry’s most-powerful couples. 

[credit provider=”Len Kendal” url=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/29/say-yes-katie_n_1310729.html#s740732&title=Single_Ladies”] If you are going to ask your true love to marry you, go big or go home, alone.That’s the attitude in these awesome, wacky, beautiful and  marriage proposals with a techie twist.

[credit provider=”Flickr / Angelo González” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/ag2r/7134946449/in/photostream/”] A new study out later this year in the journal Psychological Science indicates that just three seven-minute online sessions over a one-year period could have a drastic impact on how happy you are in your relationship.”I don’t want it to sound like magic, but […]

[credit provider=”Flickr via kunjandetroja” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/kunjandetroja/6950013060/in/photostream/”] A lot of your tax decisions depend on your relationship status.So if you just got married in 2012, mazel tov! Things are about to change for you—and one of those changes involves your taxes.

[credit provider=”mooks262 via Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcook262/3725789003/sizes/z/in/photostream/”] When you are single, you get to make your own decisions about how you want to manage bill payments, where to put your money, how to invest your cash, and what your savings goals are.When you get married, those decisions are no longer just yours […]

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons” url=”http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Harvard_Commencement_1911.jpg”] When I was a graduate student in history, I loved to read the acknowledgements sections of books. If you looked carefully, all the trade secrets kept within the small, competitive field were revealed, from who was the most helpful specialist in an archive to creative means […]

[credit provider=”icaromoreno via flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/icaromoreno/3944419869/sizes/m/in/photostream/”] (Readers: In February 2012, I received a heart-breaking message in my inbox from Spedie, a long-time reader and frequent commenter here at Len Penzo dot Com. Her husband abandoned her and their marriage — but not before he callously drained the household checking and savings […]

[credit provider=”Rob Libetti/Business Insider”] In October 2009, New York Times reporters Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber compared a hypothetical married couple with an equivalent-earning unmarried gay couple, to see just how much difference those extra privileges made.Here’s what they found:

When Iris Levenberg found herself divorced and living in South Florida in her 50s, the executive head hunter-turned-life coach was determined to find a life partner.

[credit provider=”Getty”] After seven years of dating, “Star Wars” creator George Lucas finally popped the question over the holidays to his long-time girlfriend, DreamWorks animation chairman, Mellody Hobson.  It will be the first marriage for Hobson, 43, and the second for Lucas, 68, who was previously married to film editor Marcia […]

[credit provider=”Julia La Roche for Business Insider”] We already know about Paul Tudor Jones, Jamie Dimon and Steve Schwarzman because we read about them all time.But we really don’t know much about their wives at all, and that feels a little odd.

[credit provider=”Flickr / Cameron Nordholm” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronnordholm/4992713168/”] Many have spent long hours wondering if a marriage is going to last, considering things like love, children, taxes, and the opinion of friends and  professionals.But the best and easiest answer may be this formula:

A travel agency aims to be the first to take a stag party for champagne and caviar at the North Pole.

[credit provider=”AP Photo/Elaine Thompson”] Shortly after news that the Supreme Court will hear cases concerning same-sex marriage this term, a new study finds that legal recognition of relationships may improve the mental health of gays and lesbians.The findings come from the first large-scale study of how marriage influences the mental […]

[credit provider=”Vayankeeclipper/Wikimedia” url=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phil_Hamilton.jpg”] It turns out that emails between spouses aren’t always protected, especially when you take the stand in court.A federal appeals court in Virginia on Thursday upheld the bribery conviction of a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, who last year was sentenced to more than […]

[credit provider=”Loren Sztajer at www.flickr.com and SupremeCourt.gov” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorensztajer/”] Sonia Sotomayor, one of Barack Obama ‘s appointees to the high court, describes in a new memoir how her husband presented her with a bag of Quaaludes, a popular 1970s drug sometimes known as “disco biscuits”.Friends of the groom had given him […]

[credit provider=”Duck Duck Moose”] With the holiday season upon us, we’re pressed to socialize with our coworkers and spend time with family all at once.The folks on this list have found an easy solution to that time crunch—all year round. Their cofounders are their spouses.

Quaker

After their daughter Annie was born, Gail McGovern and her husband established what came to be known as the “kitchen calendar rule.”

[credit provider=”Flickr/Tiago Cata” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiagoluiz/3210947641/”] Let’s skip the witty introductions and get right into it.#1 Multiple Trophy Wives

[credit provider=”John Walker/Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatcouldgowrong/1300092819/sizes/m/”] A recent AARP study of financial infidelity among couples in the U.S. brought some good news and bad news. On the positive side, the vast majority of adults keep things honest, with 95 per cent saying they don’t keep a secret bank account from their spouse, and […]

[credit provider=”Getty Images”] I consider myself an active Republican. I vote in elections, attend events for the party, and participate in rallies. However, it seems like every day I turn on the news to find another speech or quote that has me questioning why I’m even voting for Romney and […]

[credit provider=”CNBC” url=”http://thumbnails.cnbc.com/VCPS/Y2012/M05D03/3000088158/5ED2-CB-RobertBenmosche.jpg”] In this week’s issue of New York Magazine, Jessica Pressler spends pages and pages flushing out the world of colourful AIG CEO and saviour , Bob Benmosche.Benmosche lives on a Croatian vineyard, cusses at rooms full of people, and has threatened to quit his job (a stressful […]

Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley have won this year’s Nobel for economics

[credit provider=”AP Images” url=”http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=tom%20cruise%20and%20katie%20holmes&showact=results&sort=relevance&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=and&adte=1341921376&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=392f2a530af4456f9e1c2e9cb18f43c1&dbm=PThirtyDay&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo”] Good Morning Dinks.  Love and Money, Marriage Money, a Couple’s Budget, no matter how you say it one topic that is always current in every relationship from dating to marriage is money.According to H&R Block a shocking 49% of divorced people said that they expect to […]

Flickr via malias

Katchooo on flickr

The gay daughter of one of the richest men in Hong Kong has laughed off her father’s plan to offer nearly £40 million to any man who can charm her into a heterosexual marriage.Gigi Chao, 33, said she thought the HKD500 million (£39.8 million) offer was “quite entertaining”. She told […]

[credit provider=”HerryLawford via Flicker ” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/herry/114351029/sizes/z/in/photostream/”] One of Hong Kong’s wealthiest men has placed a “marriage bounty” on his lesbian daughter’s head, offering nearly £40 million to the man who successfully woos her.Property magnate Cecil Chao Sze-tsung announced the HK$500 million reward this week after reports that his 33-year-old daughter […]

[credit provider=”Nick Harvey/ Getty Images” url=”http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/louis-bacon-and-gabrielle-bacon-attend-the-serpentine-news-photo/133349846″] We feel like we know Louis Bacon, Steve Schwarzman and Jamie Dimon to a certain extent because we read about them in the news all the time.But we really don’t know much about their wives at all, and that feels a little odd.

[credit provider=”Flickr/Brett Jordan” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/3171946216/”] Being single is the new normal. Today, only 51 per cent of adults in America are married and nearly 30 per cent of all households are solo – the highest level in the nation’s history. The percentage of Americans living alone has doubled since 1960. For the […]

[credit provider=”ginsnob/Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginsnob/3715821746/sizes/l/in/photostream/”] The number of couples seeking postnuptial agreements during their marriage has increased over the past three years, according to a survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The poll found that 51 per cent of divorce attorneys questioned had noticed more couples signing the agreements, which function as […]

[credit provider=”Flickr /roger4336″ url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5902084493/in/photostream/”] Being single is the new normal. Today, only 51 per cent of adults in America are married and nearly 30 per cent of all households are solo – the highest level in the nation’s history.The percentage of Americans living alone has doubled since 1960. 

[credit provider=”flickr/j_bouzas” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_bouzas/6065558730/sizes/l/in/photostream/”] Two-thirds of people about to wed end up having second thoughts about the decision, a new study in the Journal of Family Psychology found.The problem? The study found that people who have these kinds of doubts are more likely to get divorced. Maybe more of us should […]

[credit provider=”Flickr / paulinaclemente” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulinaclemente/5811147496/in/photostream/”] “You need to keep your skills fresh,” said a commenter in a recent post about the finances of parenting, referring to the concept of a mother staying at home with the kids. “In case of death or divorce.”I didn’t argue, but I shook my head and […]

Before a wealthy Russian businessman popped the question to his girlfriend, he decided he wanted to test her love, and make a point in the process. So 30-year-old Alexey Bykov hired a stuntman, make-up artist, screenwriter, and a director to stage his death, reports Life News. 

[credit provider=”twitter.com” url=”https://twitter.com/simonperks”] My wife is a successful research fellow. She is a world class researcher and has a strong publication record. She is a talented lecturer and is respected by her students. She collaborates with academic and industrial partners and is invited regularly to speak at conferences around the […]

Photographer Patrick Lu was apparently wandering around Texas’ state capital grounds in Austin last week when he happened upon a rather candid moment:

[credit provider=”Wedding Photography by Jon Day/Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/wedding-photography-by-jonathan-day/3533748332/sizes/m/”] The wedding venue can eat up a big slice of your wedding budget, so you might want to figure out ways to shrink that bill. The “venue,” if you’re unsure, is basically where you hold your ceremony and reception. Here are some savvy ideas for […]

[credit provider=”Flickr / Instant Vantage” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/instantvantage/6272420159/in/photostream/”] While many relationship counselors (or friends that think they are relationship counselors) will say the best way to get over a couple clash is to “forgive and forget,” a new study of married couples indicates that when it comes to serious problems, sometimes you […]

Liberty Ross, the beautiful 33-year-old former British Vogue cover girl and current mother of two, is the women involuntarily at the centre of this week’s epic cheating scandal between her husband, director Rupert Sanders, and her “Snow White and the Huntsman co-star, 22-year-old Kristen Stewart.

[credit provider=”Getty”] Kristen Stewart, 22, has issued an apology following an Us Weekly report that she cheated on Robert Pattinson, her “Twilight” franchise co-star and boyfriend of three years.The mag reports that Stewart cheated with her 41-year-old, married “Snow White and The Hunstman” director, Rupert Sanders.

[credit provider=”Us Weekly”] It’s a sad day for Twi-hards.In this week’s Us Weekly cover story, the mag is reporting that Kristen Stewart, 22, has cheated on her boyfriend and “Twilight” co-star Robert Pattinson with her 41-year-old “Snow White and The Hunstman” director, Rupert Sanders.

North Korean TV just announced the marriage of supreme leader Kim Jong-un, according to Voice Of America’s Steve Herman.The woman has been named as “comrade Ri Sol Ju.”

[credit provider=”Las Vegas Wedding Wagon” url=”http://www.lasvegasweddingwagon.com/index.php”] The average American wedding now costs a whopping $27,000, so it’s no surprise people are resorting to guerrilla weddings and other cheap alternatives to avoid plummeting into debt.A pair of Las Vegas entrepreneurs are taking advantage of this trend by offering a fun and […]

[credit provider=”mbtrama/Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbtrama/4925770432/sizes/l/in/photostream/”] Having a tough time finding love? Is your marriage dull? You could be sabotaging your relationship and not even know it.Here are 30 things you probably don’t know about your relationship or marriage — or you knew, but needed scientific proof to back up your theories.

[credit provider=”Photo: Elle Zober” url=”http://www.totallyradcards.com/”] When Elle Zober, 37 discovered the text message that revealed her husband’s affair with a 22-year-old woman in April, she had no idea she’d find herself at the centre of a media storm just four months later.A self-employed photographer and artist, Zober, who finalised her […]

Proponents of cohabitation say that it gives couples a chance to try each other out before making a big commitment.

[credit provider=”Getty”] Quinnipiac’s new poll touches on a demographic divide that is often looked over in favour of the “gender wars” in the 2012 election: the “marriage gap.” Quinnipiac attributes President Barack Obama‘s 46-43 lead over Mitt Romney in its new poll directly to that gap. In the poll, married voters favour Romney by […]

GettyAfter breaking up last month, Sofia Vergara and Nick Loeb are back together for good.While celebrating her 40th birthday in Mexico alongside 90 of her closest friends and family (including her “Modern Family” co-stars), Sofia Vergara got engaged to her on-again boyfriend Nick Loeb after he popped the question in […]

[credit provider=”Dmitriy Shironosov on www.shutterstock.com” url=”http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-103052063/stock-photo-a-young-happy-woman-and-her-boyfriend-looking-at-one-another-in-restaurant.html?src=05ce12785946a4cfe35b791877df22d6-1-43″] How do you know who to marry?Should you just trust your feelings or pick the person who “looks good on paper”? Luckily, science has answers for us:

dno1967b/Flickr

AP

[credit provider=”sciondriver/Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/minidriver/4839554928/sizes/m/in/photostream/”] Same-sex couples face a dizzying patchwork of laws and regulations that vary from state to state. These can affect your finances in different ways and create lots of paperwork. Here’s a simple checklist to review:

After obtaining a marriage licence with fiancé Hilaria Thomas this morning in New York, Alec Baldwin socked a New York Daily News photographer who got a little too close to the actor. “I knew he was going to attack me. I stepped back, and he kept coming,” said photog Marcus […]

[credit provider=”B Tal/Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/b-tal/163450213/sizes/m/in/photostream/”] Marriage isn’t all fun and games. In the past I’ve posted about marriage making you poorer, killing sex drive, and making you fat. So if you’re gonna do it, do it right. But how do you know who to marry? Should you just trust your feelings […]

[credit provider=”flickr/proimos” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/5985249188/sizes/l/in/photostream/”] Divorce is not only an emotionally trying experience, but it can be a financially devastating one, as well.According to the web site Maritalstatus.com, the average cost of a divorce in the United States now runs about $20,000.

To honour the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s orbit of Earth, video director Jason Hakala and two of his friends took a scaled-back approach and launched an iPhone into space.

[credit provider=”Learnvest”] When my husband and I got engaged back in 2010, I felt simultaneously thrilled … and like I needed to brace myself for an oncoming wave, whose only purpose was to sweep over me and pull all of my money out to sea.The engagement wasn’t a surprise—being mature, […]

[credit provider=”Flickr / Instant Vantage” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/instantvantage/6272420159/in/photostream/”] If you’re in a relationship—or have ever been in a relationship—you know that managing money as a twosome can be tricky.We get questions every day about … how should we divide it? Who should pay for what? So when rather controversial research came out […]

The blogosphere’s abuzz with news that tween icon Miley Cyrus will soon wed her longtime boyfriend and rising star Liam Hemsworth.

It may not work for everyone, but Mel and Joey Schwanke, octogenarians from Nebraska, say that coordinated outfits are the key to their marital bliss.

[credit provider=”flickr/sadjina” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/sadjina/4099877085/sizes/o/in/photostream/”] With a wedding coming up, you’d think Jay Buerck would be obsessing about the usual details: Writing vows, choosing appetizers, or figuring out seating charts to accommodate challenging relatives.But what worries the 29-year-old St. Louis marketing professional isn’t any of those things: It’s money.

[credit provider=”flickr/skylerbug” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/skylerbug/338095285/sizes/o/in/photostream/”] When Heather Colburn and Greg Neil began planning their wedding, they had two goals: spend no more than $20,000, and invite 270 of their closest friends and relatives.They accomplished both on May 26 with careful and creative planning. “We chose what was important to us and cut […]

APAfter Playboy model Crystal Harris, 26, called off her wedding to Hugh Hefner five days before the ceremony in 2011, the “Girl Next Door” has reunited with her 86-year-old former fiancé. On Friday, Crystal tweeted: ‘Yes @hughhefner and I are back together. Yes I am his #1 girl again. Yes […]

[credit provider=”Flickr / Instant Vantage” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/instantvantage/6272420159/in/photostream/”] Some things just aren’t built to last, including a marriage. But when couples decide to part ways, the last thing they want to leave behind is a “War of the Roses” crime scene and all their hard-earned money. We tapped AARP money expert Lynette Khalfani-Cox […]

[credit provider=”Flickr / winterswan” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/winterswan/3751840268/sizes/m/in/photostream/”] A study shows that people who get married end up living happier lives than people who don’t end up tying the knot.A long-term national survey of 1,366 British citizens was used, and those individuals were studied based on their happiness. Each respondent started the study […]

[credit provider=”Flickr / JoePhilipson” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/jphilipson/2474302374/in/photostream/”] The more money a guy makes and the younger the bride, the more he spends on an engagement ring.And, no, most guys don’t spend three months of salary on it.

[credit provider=”Divorce Hotel” url=”http://www.divorcehotel.com/en/team.htm”] The typical divorce might be associated with attorneys fees and endless bickering, but a Dutch entrepreneur has found a way to challenge convention. At Jim Halfens’ Divorce Hotel, couples check in on Friday miserably married and check out on Sunday happily divorced, with the help of on-site […]

[credit provider=”Flickr/asterix611″ url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/asterix611/5972179812/”] The Obama Administration’s fight against the defence of Marriage Act won’t get its day in court until mid-September.The administration is fighting the act’s ban on federal benefits for same-sex married couples.

Men around the country will either loathe or be inspired by Isaac Lamb—because he just set the bar for creative marriage proposals pretty high.

[credit provider=”flickr/celynek” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/celynek/4899045553/sizes/l/in/photostream/”] Nearly half of divorced or separated U.S. adults say they regret not discussing their personal finances before taking their vows, according to a new survey by Couponcabin.com.40-five per cent of divorced or separated couples said that they discovered financial secrets about their spouse, compared to only 16% of couples […]

[credit provider=”Photo: Courtesy of Michael Pruser”] For the first time since the recession took hold in 2008, wedding budgets have surged.Couples spend an average of $27,000 to tie the knot, with one in five dropping more than $30,000, according to a report by TheKnot.com. That’s not even including the honeymoon. 

[credit provider=”Youtube”] This excerpt of “Worth It… Not Worth It?” was reprinted with permission from Business Plus/Grand Central Publishing.I’m not going to cover the nonfinancial aspects of divorce here, and I’m not suggesting that you should ride out a failed marriage for economic reasons.

[credit provider=”Flickr / open-arms” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/openarms/5286964935/in/photostream/”] Love is blind—and never more than when it comes to our money.But how do you keep from choosing a dubious financial partner while falling head over heels? It isn’t easy, as any of us who’ve loved and wound up in the red can tell you.

[credit provider=”en.wikipedia.org” url=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Quaker_Oats_advertisement_1905.jpg”] For most of my life, I’ve felt like I would never have enough money.Growing up, there wasn’t enough, and my childhood was chaotic: I was born in Anchorage, Alaska in the 1970s, and my dad worked on the oil pipeline that was being built, so he was […]

[credit provider=”Gotaylored” url=”http://gotaylored.tumblr.com/post/23086316753/making-the-love-happen-on-pandora”] Kyle and Maggie dated for six years before Kyle mustered up the courage to ask for her hand in marriage.He worked with Pandora for five months to make it a very special moment (via Gizmodo).

[credit provider=”shleymadison.com” url=”http://www.ashleymadison.com/”] In anticipation of Mother’s Day, notorious adultery dating website Ashley Madison released information about its current mother members, who make up 69 per cent of the site’s total users.   Here’s the picture of a typical cheating mum based on a survey of 2,865 unfaithful mothers: 

When colleagues of Erica Plotkin, a digital associate media director in the New York office of The Martin Agency, told her that her clients’ banner ads weren’t functioning properly on BBC.co.uk, she discovered these banner ads on the page in question:

[credit provider=”Flickr / Jerry Bunkers” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/6976099786/sizes/m/in/photostream/”] Once you know — in a formal sense — how to change your name after marriage, it can be difficult to keep up with all the extra steps: who to tell, which documents to change, which groups you need to notify. To make things easier, […]

[credit provider=”Wikipedia” url=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reese_Witherspoon_2005.jpg”] This has got to be a strange week for Reese Witherspoon. On Tuesday, her mother Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Witherspoon filed a lawsuit against her father John Witherspoon in Tennessee accusing him of bigamy.