Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Why Fewer People Are Getting Married Today

Episode Date: November 2, 2023

The average American wedding runs about $30,000—which is making 73% of Millennials and Gen Zers reconsider whether they can afford one. Listen in as George and Rachel decide what they’d cut from a $30,000 wedding budget and weigh in on four more reasons people aren’t tying the knot (they’re not about the wedding, but they’re all about the money). In this episode: ·     How to choose your wedding budget must-haves ·     Rachel’s take on prenups and why you might not want one ·     Four financial reasons people aren’t getting married, and George and Rachel’s take on why money shouldn’t be the reason you don’t say “I do”   Helpful Resources:   ·     Start making memories. Go NOW and purchase Telestrations at Walmart! ·     Booking a flight with Going is the best and simplest way to pay less and travel more. Sign up for free today at going.com/smartmoney. ·     Preorder George’s new book, Breaking Free From Broke, today! ·     Watch George’s YouTube video How I Got a Free Wedding ·     Get your finances organized, make a plan, build your confidence, and kick money stress out of your life for good with the EveryDollar budgeting app. Go to www.everydollar.com/smartmoney to get started today. Use code SMARTMONEY to get a free two-week trial and $15 off your premium membership to EveryDollar. ·     Do you have a Guilty as Charged question for Rachel and George? Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it. ·     Learn more about your ad choices: https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices ·     Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/compa...   This Week’s Happy Hour Special: El Torado Ingredients: ·      2 ounces reposado tequila ·      1/2 ounce dry vermouth ·      1 1/2 ounces unfiltered apple juice Instructions: Add tequila, vermouth and apple juice into a chilled cocktail shaker, then add ice. Shake it well, then strain into coupe cocktail glasses and serve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. And I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers, George. Cheers. Delicious. The bomb America needs right now. So good.

So this is the podcast for two friends who happen to be money experts. Talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And my co-hosts, George Camel, not only did you have a new baby, but you have a new book coming out. That's right. Can I hold her? You can hold her. This is technically a fake copy, but it's the real cover.

It's the real cover. Breaking free from broke, you guys. George's first book. It's on pre-sale right now. And listen, this podcast is great because I feel like we have a lot of people that are like, okay, I think I want to like kind of dive into money. I don't know. I want to have fun and learn about money.

This is your book, people. This is your book. That's so kind. Are you excited, George? Very. Like all the stuff we talk about on this podcast, the humor, the pop culture references, I tried to weave in to this book. And you did.

And so the first two thirds uncovers all the lies, the financial system, the toxic money culture tries to tell us that we've believed. And the last third helps you break free from that with beautiful truths that have helped us accomplish all of our financial goals. Yeah, that's right. How I went from broke to millionaire. It's all in this book. And I'm so pumped. It comes out in January. But it's on pre-sale now with a bunch of goodies, comes with audiobook, e-book.

Three months of every dollar premium. Oh, yeah. So much more. Do the pre-sale, you guys, because you get free stuff. For $20. And we'll send you the book as well. George, congrats. Thank you.

I'm so excited for you. I can't wait for you to read it. And look how little I am on the cover. He's just so little George. It's like, honey, I shrunk the George on here. But I love it. The team did a great job and I can't wait to get this in your hands. Oh, so great, George.

Where do people go? Ramsey Solutions.com. Or georgecamel.com. George Camel.com with a K. Do the pre-order again because you get free stuff. Might as well do it, right? Thank you. It's so great.

Okay, so today we're talking about one of our favorite money topics in light of, you know, kind of where we're at. and there's some new data out, which is fascinating. You want to know what we're talking about? Mailage. Weren't expecting that, did you? That's from a movie I've never seen. I was trying to set you up well to, like, intro the topic, and that's how we do it.

I was going for the mailage is what brings us together. And that's Mighty. No, Princess Bride. Princess Bride. Can I be honest? I get Princess Diaries and Princess Bride mixed up all the time. Wow, two totally different movies. But are they?

No, people get angry. When you tell someone I've never seen the Princess Bride, they immediately hate you. Yes, yeah. It's a classic. I'll watch it. But at this point, it's a badge of honor that I haven't seen it. Okay, and we're going to be sipping on what? What?

We're talking about marriage. This is an El Torado. Not El Dorado, El Torado. And it's pretty good. I've had worse on this show. So we're going to give you the rating, reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode, and give you the recipe if you want to dare make this on your own. at home. Yeah, it does have a kick to it, but you think it's great. I think it's great. It's not spicy,

but it's got some punch. Some pizzazz. A kick a punch. I don't know what body part does the violent act, but I don't know, kick feels spicy. Punch feels punchy. Okay. That's my take. This episode is already not great. Well, hey, we've heard it before. We'll say it again to make sure we're on the same page, Rachel. Americans are getting married later in life, if at all. That's the headline. And it gets later and later. I feel like people were like 18 back in the 20s or something, right? We've got the stats. You ready for this? Yes. In 2022, the average age of a first time groom was 30 years old. Back in 1947, back in your day, Rachel, was 23, 23 back in the day. So we've increased seven years now for the average wedding age. Is that not wild? And a recent survey asked millennials

and Jen Ziers why they're waiting to get married. And 73 percent, are you ready for this? 73%, 7 out of 10 of them, said that they think it's too expensive to get married in the current economy. That's confusing. Are they talking about the wedding or are they talking about being married? I don't know.

I feel like the wedding itself is what they're talking about because when you get married, if you didn't have a... That's not expensive. Like the actual living a married life is not expensive because you're actually bringing two incomes together.

Generally, you have dual income. So life gets easier, but okay. Anyways, but according to research by the knots, the average U.S. wedding, including ceremony and reception, cost $30,000 last year. And it easily can be $50,000 in cities like, you know, New York and San Francisco and stuff. Or like that one guy who called The Ramsey Show when I was on solo, and he was going to spend $500,000. And it was an Indian wedding, which is like a week-long thing. That's a big deal. And I was trying to talk him off the ledge because he was going to save up for this himself, and he was broke.

Oh, wow. It can get out of hand. Ground zero to $500,000. If that's the budget, I understand why people are like, I'm not sure I'm ready to get married. Yeah. Okay. So is this a bad time in the economy to be spending $30,000 on a wedding? I don't buy that.

Now, is it tough times out there for a lot of people? Sure. Yes. But being like, well, it's a tough time in the economy to, I get it to like buy a house, but you don't have to go spend $30,000 on a wedding. Yeah, that's the thing. And I know it probably is frustrating to, be like, oh, man, how much more, I don't know, the rental facilities is what I was going to say.

Wow. That's not the right word. The rental spaces? The venues? Thank you. Oh. The venues are probably way more expensive. Food costs.

I mean, I think everything has gone up. With inflation. So I get that that's frustrating. Like, man, our wedding is going to cost more or we're going to have to have less of a wedding than we would have had to have four years ago. But also, it's just the wedding. How long have you guys been married? Five years coming up. Okay.

Yeah. You feel longer, George. Thank you. We're an old married couple, the way we bicker, you know. But I've known her for a long time now. And you and Winston? We'll be 14. Oh my gosh.

We got married when you were babies. You weren't even out of college yet? We were in the 40s. We were like 1940s. 1947. Me and Winston. The old early 20s. Yeah, we were young.

That's amazing. We were young. Well, congratulations. Yeah, thank you. And you guys have a great marriage from what I can. can tell. But I know you, we will both say, you put work into this thing. And it's hard. Marriage is hard. There's ups and downs. There's struggles, all of it. But we have learned, George. You ready for this? Winston, this is a Winston quote. Through suffering, you find so much

beauty. What is he? Aristotle? I know. Because in this whole new, like, thing right now. And we need to get them on the podcast, him and Whitney. But he is, I'm not kidding. It really. Winston is having a moment right now. We're here for it. It's a, well, it's just like, it's a, it's a real thing. So there is definitely hard times of marriage. Everyone goes through them, I would think. But it's the most beautiful relationship. I mean, you have a companion in life,

right, that you get to do life with. I love him very dearly. I mean, I love the guy, and I'm not even married to him. And I love Whitney. And you love Whitney. There's so much love. I love. I love. Anyways. Okay. Here's the bottom line. Weddings don't have to cost $30,000. If that's what's putting you on the sidelines here,

you can just spend what you do have on a wedding, don't go into debt for it. If you don't have 30 grand to spend, then don't do that. So what do people think is required for a wedding? Let's break this down. And this varies by culture, as I talked about. Yes. Let's say an Americanized wedding.

Go every other one, because this is a long list. Ready? You go first. Go. Invitations and save the dates. The dress and the tucks. A venue. An officiant or preacher.

A photographer for engagement and the wedding. The videographer. Catering and food. Okay. Flowers. Probably beer and wine. D.J. or band?

Decor. And transportation. And we're probably missing some, George. There's a whole bunch of things. I mean, like, putting on a wedding is an entire spectacle these days, right? Yeah. It's a lot. Yep. And the reality is 98% of these are just once.

That's true. Because to get married, you literally just need a license, right? I think you have to have someone at the courthouse to, like, legally bind you together by law or something. Well, the older folks out there, like, back in my day, we didn't, I'm like, yeah, they didn't have video cameras back then, pop-op. So what do you want me to do? They didn't have, they didn't have donut walls. If you could have a donut wall. You would have chosen that.

You probably would have done it. Pop, Pop. I don't even call my... That's not even a name. Come on, Grammy and Pop Pop, Okay, if you could have three of those things, Rachel. You could go back in time, you have three things. What would be the non-negotiables?

Oh, gosh. Looking at this list. Photographer. I would do that over a videographer. Fair. Because you can hang the photos on a wall. Yeah, I think photos, because we never watch our... We watched our wedding video.

Oh, my gosh, years ago. But it's awkward? Oh, I like... am, like, whispering our vowels. It's so weird. Were you nervous? I don't know, but I was, I don't even know. I'm not a quiet person.

You're not a quiet person. We were watching it. Winston was like, what was wrong? I have no idea. Was Winston whispering? It was so bad. No, no. It was weird.

I don't like it. I don't like my wedding video. Did he cry? We did a first look. He cried, yes, the first look. But we had not, like, I don't think during the. During the ceremony, he was stone cold. Stone cold.

Did you cry? No emotion. I don't think so Okay Yeah I could have But I held back Okay so I'm gonna go

I'm gonna go photographer I'm gonna go DJ Air Band Oh wow I'm going for the party And then probably the beer and wine Okay guys if you go to Rachel's wedding There will be no food Yeah no food

So eat before you come Which is fine You're gonna feel everything I can make a cake There will be no efficient There will be no venue There's just gonna be a photographer Beer and Wine

The venue's that's hard because you have to have the venue to put the date. Sure. I would go more party. I would. That's fair. Like the ceremony, I would appreciate it and like take it in. I would go small and then I would do big party.

I'm with you on that. I think it's so fun. I'm going to go food, beer and wine, and photographer. The rest I'd figure out. Is that what I did? No. You skipped food in lieu of DJ or band. Oh, that's right.

In my mind, I'm good with a Spotify playlist versus like a 50-year-old guy who's like, hey, does anyone want to hear the Cupid shuffle? And I'm like, no, guy. Why is that my band? Put the fedora down, bro. My band is fun. That is not my band. Okay.

Stop putting that band on me. But you know the DJ I'm talking about. Yes, I do. Like, he still wears a fedora thinking like, this will make me relevant. Like, no, my man. Not a look. You want to. Not a look you want to do.

Yep. No. Is there anything on this list that you did not have? Did you have everything on this list? Okay, well, you know, we have this epic story. I did a whole video on my YouTube channel. Can we link it in the show notes? Okay.

I cover all the stuff, but we won a free wedding. It was a $28,000 package, which is about the average we've seen. It's unbelievable, yeah. But then we threw another party afterwards because it had a very limited... I think I went to that one, George. You did? It was a great time. It was a great time. So because of that, it added up quickly.

Okay, yep. But, yeah, we had all of this. I did video because I love video and had a lot of videographer friends, and so it was fairly cheap to get them to help out. You know, it's funny because some people say, like, oh my gosh, I would have made my wedding smaller. I think a lot of people say that. Oh. And I'm the opposite. You're like bigger.

More than Marrier. I think I still would have thrown a big reception. I had all my people there. But it's a good reminder that when you were having a wedding, you're just throwing a party for everyone else. It's literally what it is. It's just a party. Don't act like it's for you.

Like, yes, they want to celebrate you. Yeah, but you're there. But you're planning a very expensive party. That's it. Yep. And people put so much effort into that versus the marriage. Truth. That it's a lot.

They like literally think about that day in that day only for so long. It is such a focal point. That is weird. And then it's over. Spent hours and days and months. In like 18 hours, it's done. Well, to be fair, party planning is way more fun than working on yourself and your marriage.

I guess. I know. It's probably so great. Let's go to therapy. Yay. It's probably so true. Dig up all of our childhood wounds. Well, the wedding budget itself obviously isn't the only financial reason that millennials and Gen Ziers are pumping the breaks on marriage.

So let's talk through some other comments. reasons. Yep, and this particular list was created by a financial advisor at RBC wealth management based on things that they were noticing with their clients. Okay. But before we jump into those reasons, we want to take a quick break to tell you about a game that we are loving through op games. And you guys have heard us talk about Tappell, you know, where you have a category and you're putting down a letter per word and all that's great. But this other game... From the makers of Tapel. It is so fun. And it's called Telestrations. So think of the old school game of telephone, but with sketches, and it's hilarious.

And you can play with all kinds of different people, all ages, a huge group, and it's so hilarious. It is one of those gut-busting doubled-over kind of games. It's so fun. And what I love about it is it's social. It's not like a crazy, like Tapel's kind of competitive. Like that buzzer's going, and you're like, oh, my gosh, you got it. Yeah, Telestrations, it's more like we pass it, we go, like you can talk. It's a very social game.

Yes, have fun. You don't have to be an artist to be able to play. In fact, if you're not good at it, it's even better. The worst you are at drawing, the better. because it just makes the answers more hilarious. It's great. It's a great game. Yep.

So make sure to pick up Telestrations at Walmart because it's fantastic. We promise you're going to have a fantastic time this weekend because it pairs, you know, nicely with this podcast you're listening to you know. So grab yourself a drink, listen to Smart Money Happy Hour, and then play Telestrations with all your friends. It'll be so fun. So fun. That's the new trend.

That's it. All right. So reason number one, George, that people are not getting buried is not feeling financially secure as an individual. Oh, this is interesting. Okay, so financially secure. I'm guessing that means they don't have their crap together when it comes to money. Maybe they have some debt.

They feel like their income isn't quite there. So they're not ready to move on with this big stage of life. Yep. And I think people would be maybe a little surprise of our advice on that. As we say, like, regardless of where you are financially, if you want to get married or even have a baby, do it. Don't wait until you have some certain income level or if I can get completely out of debt first. Yeah. Like that's all great.

but I mean, you guys got married out of college. Yes. Yeah. So I'm like, continue to live your life and you can still work on your money goals and be married. Like you can do both at the same time. So, and again, sure, it's probably less stressful if you have no debt and you both go in with great incomes and stuff and get to just fly and be free. But also, it's part of the journey of life. So like, do it.

Now, if someone has a money issue, like if they're deeply in debt and they're continuing to go into debt or something, like. That's different. Yeah, we can like talk about that. But overall, I don't feel like you have to be in this like crazy financially secure place. I think if you love somebody, you guys are ready, like go get the marriage certificate and call it a day. Well, I grew up in Boston and it was a very different, you know, people don't get married until way later in the Northeast because they're so focused on education and careers. They're working on their third master's degree. Right.

And then they're like, and then I'll start looking at that. In the South, which is where I went to college, finished there. In Mobile, Alabama, it was like, ring by spring or you're dying alone. That was the vibe. Okay, I'm not saying that's what was happening, but it was the vibe. It was like, you better have found your person by the time you graduate, which is also a weird amount of pressure, too. Sure. Oh, yeah.

So don't feel like it's too, it's too early, it's too late. If you found the one. Yeah. If you know, you know. Is that how you felt about Winston? If you know, you know. Yeah. Yeah.

I feel like I really liked him. Wow. What a resounding review of Winston Cruz. I mean, he was a guy. I was there. No, I was friends with his sister first, and he was always the hot older brother. Oh. So I was like, we never, like, hung out with his group of friends.

They were, like, the older, hot young life guys that, like, love Jesus, but they were hot and great. And we were like, oh, wow, there's the older guys. And then I caught one. And then I caught one. So was it a hard sales pitch, or was he into it? No, it took about a year and a half. For him to note it? Why was that?

Because we didn't hang out. We weren't like. But was he just like a loof? He was like, oh, yeah, that Rachel girl? I don't know, Drew. I don't know. Rachel Ramsey. I mean, we hung out with like a big group of people.

So like. But did he know who you were because of Dave? Yes, he would say that. No, not because of Dave. No, he didn't really know who Dave was. Okay. No, because of his sister and stuff. Yeah.

Was he financially secure? Yes. He worked his, he worked all through college. I feel like he's the kind of guy who's like, why would I do debt? That's so dumb. Yes. Like he just has that value. And he like, yeah, he was in charge of the rental income of the hat.

He was like the, he is who he is today. But it. college version. So he was a great one to marry into. All this made sense. Like none of this was like, everyone was like, did you have big tension when you and Winston got married to like bring him over to the side of Ramsey? And I'm like, not really, genuinely, because he was like, perfect. I love to save. It's great. Like it was so up his alley, you know? We love a fiscal hot guy. You know, what can we show? That there is. How about Whitney? When did you meet Whitney? I met her here at Ramsey. Oh, that's, oh, duh, of course. When did you see her across the cubicle?

So we were just friends, you know, she was a mixologist, Michael Reddish, is a assistant at the time. So I was really good friends with Mike. She was Michael's assistant? Yes. Oh my gosh. So I was best friends with Michael and it was always like, hey, what about Whitney? And I was she would never go for a guy like me.

But she thought immediately he's the one. She's the fiscal hot girl. What if she went with a guy like me? And I charmed her. You did. I got one date and I almost screwed it up. And then y'all were together ever since. How long did y'all date?

We dated her for a year and then I proposed. Yes. So great. So it's a beautiful love story. Oh my gosh. I love that, George. I love that. We all need to marry fiscally hot people.

That's the goal in life. We achieved it. We did it. Okay. Reason number two, they're waiting to get married in order to protect their personal assets. Ooh. What does that mean? Them fighting words.

Okay, so. They want to just keep their own life. Is that why? Well, I guess an example would be the person, new marry has significant debt, which kind of hurts your overall financial picture. Or you're going to receive an inheritance. So in some states, an inheritance is considered marital property. So if you get it while you're married, it legally belongs to both parties. Wow. So apparently some people are like, I'm not looking to share that money.

Oh, wow. Very independent spirits. Okay. I hear it's very like Gen Z. That's what it feels like. Yeah. I mean, I think there's a spirit of people who have seen trauma and abuse in past relationships with their parents may be splitting. And so it's a very protective, defensive kind of attitude, which I understand, but can also be harmful. It isn't. But I think that's harmful within your marriage, right? Agreed.

So with that attitude, I could understand why they're like, I don't want to get married. But also you're choosing money and assets over having like a lifelong partner to do life with, you know what I mean? Yes. Which is kind of sad. It's not just a mathematical equation. And it's not just about money. I mean, that's the other thing.

Life is so much more than all of that. You can have such a richer life with so many things. One, if you walk in with a defensive attitude with your fists up, you know, with a very close posture, it's not going to lead to a great relationship. Yeah. So winning in money and marriage requires this kind of we attitude, ours attitude, not this, well, that's your money and this is my money. We're going to keep it all. Yeah. Now, we have to talk about preempts because this is a big call we get on the Ramsey show.

Yes. Should I do a pre-nup? What is the Ramsey take on pre-nups? I can tell you my take. I think for majority of people, you don't need one. I think it is kind of weird if there's, like, you know, smaller amounts of money or, like, a car or something that's like, this is in the pre-nup, and I'm going to keep this if we ever do.

I don't know, like, that feels weird to me. But I can see if there's a significant amount of money that a very different level may be saying, hey, I don't know, just in case something happens. Or even like we, I find it's not even just the person you're marrying, but their family. Like there's a level of protection. Like the family knows that their family member is not going to get anything. Does that change?

Like, I don't know. Like it just kind of protects that side, I think. Yeah. And then the other thing I thought about too is if you're in like a family business and there's a family-owned thing and they have stock in the company or whatnot. And then so protecting that to keeping that in the family if there's like something that says that. So I don't know. I will say Winston never. signed a pre-up. We didn't, I didn't even, like, that wasn't even a conversation. I think it's

safe to say, Whitney and I don't have one. I came into the marriage with close to nothing. So it's fine. But yeah, if I had like 20 million dollars and she had nothing, or if I made a million dollars and she made 30, you know, a pre-nup may, that may, you know, be, makes sense. If there's a significant difference, I could understand why that's a conversation. But it's more about the craziness and family and the drama that could happen with that versus a trust thing. I know. I think so, yeah. But it can't get weird. There is something still. If you still have a pre-up, even with that, it does feel like we're looking at the end in minds before we even start. It could still feel weird.

Agreed. So, I don't know. I'm less of a fan of it, but I can see in very certain situations. That might be a reason. Reason number three, people aren't getting married, Rachel. Income inequality between the couple. This is an interesting one. So this kind of is tied to reason two of waiting to get married for personal assets.

So the higher earner is usually hesitant. Oh. So if you're making, you know, $120 and a huge job and you're going to go marry a teacher making $40, they're feeling like, oh, there's a difference in income. You're going to drag me down over here, like cramp my style. Which makes me sad. Because I do feel like the line of work you choose teachers being a great example. Yeah. There's only so much you can do.

And they're the most amazing people ever. So I'm like, why? And now I get if it's like, oh, my gosh, she can't hold a job or he can't hold a job. he changes all the time he doesn't put an effort like right that speaks more to the person than what their yeah more to their drive

and their values yeah which I could see that being frustrating in a marriage right if you know I don't know so I can I just I don't think the money's I wouldn't let that be a determining factor like if you know if Whitney made $30,000 when we got married

I wouldn't be like oh okay well I'm going to wait then until you make 45 and then come talk to me and then come talk to me who does that that's insane I know I agree. I don't like that one. That one feels kind of toxic because you're also usually young when you get married. You're early on in your career.

Right. So who's to say you're not going to double, triple, quadruple your income? Well, and I don't know. I don't know what the percentage is of one income earner households once you get married and have kids and stuff. But there's probably going to be a time where one spouse doesn't earn anything because they're home with the kids. And then what are you going to do all of a sudden?

Well, hey, I didn't sign up for this. This doesn't feel good. I don't know I like this, quality. This came up the other day in an interview I was doing. and he said, hey, I'm keeping my finances separate. It's her money and my money. I said, what if she wants to stay home one day? And he said, well, I'll give her an allowance.

No, no, no, no. I was like, you're going to treat her like a teenager who gets an allowance? No. That's weird. How does that make her feel? So to the guys out there or the ladies out there, I don't like this idea of like, well, she's, they'll get an allowance if they're a stay-at-home spouse. No, you're the parental role in the marriage.

Oh, it's weird. Nope, nope, nope, nope, we're all adults here. We're all adults. All right, reason number four, protecting benefits or support of children. Interesting. So if you have children from past relationships, you may be worried about the financial support you currently have in place. So, like, child or spousal support could be cut off if you get remarried. That's true.

So if you were getting, you know, two grand from child support and you get remarried, it could disappear. Okay. So let's talk about this real situation. I don't know. I'm just making something up on the spot to defend this case. Because, yeah, what if you have, like, a junior in high school? and your ex-husband, you know, makes a lot of money, you pay, and you're using some of that to fund college?

I don't know, like, is there a time that you're like, oh my gosh, for the good of my child? Oh. There's something there. You know what I mean to, like, help them go to college part of this. Yeah, that's tough. Do you know what I mean? But I guess that's, I guess that would be a different conversation.

I don't know. But I'm just wondering, like, where I could see as a mom. I just get very protective when I hear that kind of stuff. I'm like, oh, yeah, because there's probably a lot of moms out there that have good reason, or dads and dads. Yeah. to protect their kids, hopefully in a good-hearted way, not in a manipulative. I just want to keep the money way, which I'm sure there's a lot of people like that too.

But I don't know. That's an interesting level-headed take. I would understand if someone called in and had that predicament, it would be a hard one to grapple with. Yeah. I would still think, like, if this is who you're going to marry, go ahead and like marry them when it's the right time. I agree. I agree. And figure out the financial piece later.

And if we need to work extra or sell some stuff, make sacrifices, that's fine. delaying that important relationship because of that would be really hard for me. I agree. I agree. I could see the hesitation, though, if there was like a interesting situation, right? Yeah. So fascinating. So ironically, despite all these fears, the research says that the family structure of marriage

is actually a great predictor of wealth building. I believe that. So here's a quote. Among the college educated, those who are married have more than twice the wealth of those who are divorced or never married. Oh, man. And among the less educated, married Americans have about four times the wealth of those who are not married. So two is wealthier than one.

I mean, the math checks out. Well, sure. But there's another piece of the puzzle here, which is two people working together can do so much more than one person. Yeah. I mean, I can see. I mean, obviously, if you're both working and you're doing that, yes. But I also think that we talk to a lot of married people and they're struggling financially because one spouse, like the spouse can be a draft. as much as a support. Oh, yeah. If they're not on the same page.

And sometimes we talk to single people and they killed it because I got no one to hold me back. So like regardless of if you're married or not, at college educated or not, you can still win with one. We hear every story out there of every equation. That's a good call out. To the single people listening and watching out there, I want to say like don't feel like, well, man, if I was married, I'd get ahead financially. Don't wait for this person to come into your life to reach your financial goals. We see people all the time who are incredible, hardworking people who are single, and they're able to get that house, pay off their debt. So I just don't want it to be an excuse as to why you're not going to build wealth.

Yeah, for sure. Yep. And we see it all. We see people do it all the time. So it's great. So awesome. Okay, so clearly the possibility of divorce after you get married is a big concern for a lot of millennials and Jen Ziers. And we understand their concern. The stats are scary, y'all. Half of first marriages end in divorce. 60% of second marriages end in divorce 70% of third marriages end in divorce And wow, George, there's a lot of divorce in America And a lot of divorce in pop culture right now That is true

So just in 2023, here's the ones we've seen And you can attest to this Because you follow pop culture relationships more than I do Give me all the celebrity divorces Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez Yeah Divorce after 21 months Big one

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner Divorce after four years broke my heart Taylor Swift took her in. Sophia Vergara. Oh. And Joe Mangonielo. Hate it.

After seven years. Hate it. Is it Mangiananielo? I don't know. Very Italian. The next one makes me like literally want to cry. Hugh Jackman and Deb Furness. I can't do it.

27 years, Rachel. 27 years. They were like my man. Man. That one's tough. And then Reese, Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toeth, her second husband, filed for divorce after 11 years of marriage. Sad.

Man, and talk about, I'm sure there's a lot of prenups. In the celebrity world. In the celebrity world. When you're talking that many zeros on the end. A lot of stuff. What's your reason for why celebrities seem to get divorced more than the average American? Oh gosh, George. I don't know.

There's no right answer. Yeah, I know. And I don't want to put like a stereotype on them. I think, okay, here's like, here's the good, harder. Here's like the good-hearted side of me as I'm like, I think they do. deal with pressures that like we can't understand. True. I do wonder if there's like attraction that's very quick maybe than not.

But I think 50% of the public get divorced. Like, you know what I mean? Also is it we just hear about the celebrity ones more, but there's also many celebrities who have been married for a long time that we don't hear about. Yes. So I think part of it is the media loves to put these on magazines. And so we just think in our minds, oh, if you're an actor, actress, musician, you're just going to have a higher divorce right.

I don't know if it's true. Yeah. I love to see stats on that. I would say it is true. I doubt 50% of Hollywood couples stay together forever, though. Yeah. Because, like, the general public, 50% get divorced, 50% stay together. I think Hollywood is much higher of a percentage, right?

That gets divorced? I don't know. I don't know. But David Beckham and Victoria, should you watch their documentary? No, I haven't seen that. Should I? What is this reaction? What are we watching here?

I love them. Okay, in a good way. They're doing great. they are I mean they are every they're everything are are they're goals are they goals yes they are do you see yourself as Victoria and Winston thinks he is David Beckham oh Winston you hear that dog as David Winston thinks June has

June our dog yeah David Beckham has three of those the working Cocker Spaniels did Winston know this no and David Beckham does like be David Beckham does some like um very like kind of bizarre he has like some bizarre like quirks about him and that is my husband Does David Beckham have a rock garden? Like Winston?

No, but he has honey. And Winston was like, I totally would do beehives. Like, I would, like, literally, it, you need to, you and Whitney need to watch this documentary. It is the best. It's the best. And if you like soccer at all, it's even better. I was going to say, well, Whitney likes spice girls. Oh, no, because they pair their entire relationship together.

So anyways, Victoria and David, I'm holding out for you. If they get divorced, we may have to have a moment of silence on this podcast. Wow. They're my new favorite. But celebrity people. And also, David and Winston, we should get you guys together for a hang. They probably have the same workout routine. Same hair care routine.

Gosh, must be nice to be a fiscal hot guy. Golly. All right. Well, back to divorce, Rachel. It's not ideal. But it's also not hopeless, especially from a financial perspective, even if you didn't get a pre-up. So if this is happening to you or a friend, we all know people who have experienced this. It's time to get a supportive team in place, both personal.

and financially. Yes, I do think when that happens, there's a lot that comes in the play. There's a lot of, obviously, a lot of emotion going on. But also, you want to be able to protect yourself. You want to know what's going on. You want to understand all these. There's so many elements of it and so many things. Well, it's easy to isolate yourself instead of seeking community and help from others and professionals. So this is a huge part of this. So financially, this might look like getting a divorce attorney, a CPA, insurance broker. Divorce is going to require you to adjust your budget, cut back. I mean, it can be financially very tough for people when things get cut in half or worse or there's custody battles and it can get really expensive.

I mean, Dave likes to say on air, marriage is grand, divorce is 50 grand. We've said for years that divorce turns marriage into a business transaction, which is really sad to say out loud. We don't want to make light of that, but it's true. You have to start going, okay, how is everything going to get split? Where do we all land financially? How do we get out of this as unscathed as possible? Yep. And if there's kids in the mix, all of it. I mean, there's just, yeah, there's a lot. Okay. So with all that said, George, should single millennials and jinseers just never get married? Yikes. Are we ending on a hopeless note? No, guys, you can do it. And I do feel like there is a stat out there that's like if you are in a practicing faith, if you make, I don't know, a certain income, like maybe, I don't know, a certain income. If your parents are married. Like I think there's like, there's these couple of kind of things.

There's some factors that will increase your chances in a way. Not to say you can't overcome any of those odds. Right. Right. Right. Like if both your parents are still together and you have a good salary and, you know, you have some education or whatever those pieces are. Yeah. You've got a fighting chance.

Yeah. And even on that show, love at first sight. I mean, some of these folks are still together. Yes. And at first sight, they're like, we're married. Yeah. But part of that, I wonder if it's because they're like, I'm going to make this work. And then it works because they work to make it work.

I know. It's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, that's true, because it does. It makes work. So we are pro-marriage. We are pro-marriage. Gen Zeres and millennials. It's still possible.

Let me just say YouTube people, like people that jump in the YouTube comments are very cynical towards marriage, especially the guys. Are you on YouTubers? Come on. They're just like, yeah, she's going to take you to the cleaners and women exist to take half of your money. It's a very cynical take on marriage. And so to those people I say, get help. Whoever hurt you, I'm sorry. But love is available for you if you just open your heart.

Life is so much more joyful than how you experience it. Thank you. Understand yourself. Know yourself. Know yourself, know your money. A great book. Of course, Rachel would weave in a great pitch for her book. No, but it's true.

Don't let these weird factors or past experiences, you know, scar you to the point. You just say, I'm never going to trust and love again. We're not naive in it, y'all. Like, yes, it's not always fun. It takes work for sure. Marriage is risk. Yeah, but man. Jeez. Okay. So in summary, don't let fear drive your decision to get married.

George, beautifully said. Beautifully said. I think we solved the world's problems in this episode. I feel good about it. I think we need a dating app, though, for all the single people. The Ramsey dating app. Fiscal hotties. Fiscal hot guys, where you're at?

Listen, if I could create an app where it was only fiscal hot guys, I would be a billion. I would be a billionaire. What are you doing here? Get out of here, George. I don't know how to make apps. Someone else do it. I don't trust it.

But that was fun. Hey, cheers to marriage. Cheers to marriage. I know. To Whitney. To Whitney and Winston. To Whitney and Winston. Our fiscal taught spouses.

Those double yous in our life. Okay, so it's almost the end of the episode, George, and we close out every episode with Guilty As Charge. And this is where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new guilty charge question every week. And if we are guilty, We have to take a sip. All right. I feel like I'm looking at you because I know that you're going to do one of these weird things. Oh, I'm just thinking about my impression of you from our smart conference episode.

Oh, yeah. And everyone is like, he was spot on. Oh, my God. It was pretty good. It was pretty good. I'm just going to. I'm not offended. You did a great job.

Thank you. All right. What common item do most people throw away that you secretly reuse? So think like plastic bags or like, I don't know, weird things. This may not be weird. Grocery bags. Like the plastic grocery bags But I think a lot of people do that

I do that too But maybe we're weird I don't know What trash does Rachel keep for fun Like you mean like you keep it for like Your bathroom Trash cans or something Oh

I You You over there I feel like you keep things I'm so guilty I feel like reused up I would have her I'm gonna go with

soap bottles What do you use it for? I get this I get a giant refillable foaming soap thing from like Amazon. I'll refill my soap bottles. Okay. So I'm not throwing away soap bottles in my house. That's good.

Any containers, like, to go food, that's a quality that I know I could wash. So if I get food to go from a restaurant. A nice plastic one. And it comes in like some good containers. I'm saving those 100% and washing those. I would say like to go cups. We have a lot of plastic cups. You love a to go cup.

Schlazki's probably has a great to go cup. No, there's this paper. I know. Chuckie cheese plastic cup You kept the Chuckie cheese cup It's all plastic

You rewash I mean it's a cup It's a legitimate cup Wow Anything for you Lindsay So we're guilty Yeah Not too much

But since I've been making Chai I do feel like I keep glass containers Oh Like the glass jars Like I'll reuse those Okay I have a bougie one I got these little baby

Crembrillets from Costco. Creme Brewl, okay. And they come in these little beautiful glass ramekins. They come in glass ramekins? Glass ramekins from Costco. Oh, that when you wash out,

it's like a little like jar, like a little mason jar? It's like a tiny, it's a really narrow, just a little tiny jar almost. So you keep them all. So I keep them. And if you're doing like a charcutory board or something, you can have that

with some nuts in it and, you know. That's smart, George. Wow. It's a great value. So if you're at Costco, check out the crembrulee. And it tastes good. Never thought I was saying.

It's a, Amazing. So what you do is I bought one of those torches. Torches. And it comes with sugar. You pour the sugar on top. And then you just torch it on top and it creates the nice little hard shell. Wow. And everyone thinks you're a hero. They think you're the coolest person in the world. Well, yeah. And then you say I got them at Costco. And then I say, I got these at Costco. And that completes my journey. And then your legendary. Your legend lives on. And I ascend on a Kirkland Cloud. Oh, my. And your Kirkland sweatpants.

Have you seen the Costco Halloween decorations? No. Oh, they're terrifying. Are they out of hand this year? Have you not seen there's like a like a 10 foot, 12 foot? Oh, skeleton. Oh, no, no, no. Yeah, it's like it's huge.

I don't subscribe to that to Costco witchcraftery. I will not stand for it. Well, if you're in Costco, I don't know how you miss it. It's huge. I haven't been in a while, Rachel. It's time. Really? Yeah.

Take a little gander tonight with a little cream brule. Love to. Look at the witch. It is crazy. That was fun. Okay, so who, I don't know. We're tied. Me, maybe?

We're tied. You think we're tied? Possibly. Yeah. I'm going. What's your rating on this El Torado drink, Rachel? Y'all, I'm going 10 out of 10. No way.

You know what? That's generous. Oh, shoot. We shouldn't have reacted. Yeah, y'all reacts. Oh, my gosh. You know what? I'm going, I'm going, I do 10 out of tens, and that means I would order.

it at a restaurant. And I would order this as a as a cocktail. Wow. I really liked it. I'm actually a little shocked. It didn't seem like you were a huge fan at first. I know. And then maybe it's because it just got better the more I drank it. I'm going to go seven out of ten. Okay. It's almost like every sip I wanted like a punch of lime. Like I wanted it to be a little more like a margarita. And it was just missing that.

I could see that. That acid almost. That sour punch. Yeah. Here's what's in the El Torado, dry vermouth, repasado tequila, and apple juice. So it's very simple. Ooh, that's fun. And I'm guessing it's shake in and then, you know, no ice just poured neat in a coop glass. I need to make this.

The cost breakdown, $3.62 per glass. So great. And do you know where repasado tequila is? Nope. Versus a Blanco? Oh, it's... Nope. You know.

I would say George Clooney or Kendall Chipper. is aged. Repasado is an aged tequila. Slightly aged. Okay. Is it, then it's kind of yellow? Yes. So Blanco is your clear tequila. Repasado is a little darker. Blanco, I think, is blank as in white. You've heard of a Nyejo. Yeah. That's an extra aged tequila. So it's even darker. Okay, okay, okay. Yep. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not a tequila professional. Yeah, but see, here's the thing, though, looked clear to me. It didn't look like a, was it. Was it? Well, it was a little yellow. It was yellow. Yeah. So a gray drink. Mm-hmm.

Rachel, you loved it Michael Reddish will be very happy to know that his recipe panned out and Ibou made it today? Yeah. Thank you. Mixologist. Resident, what's a Sue mixologist?

She's the assistant. I like Sue Mixologist. She's a sous chef for sure. So check out the recipe in the show notes. Give it a try this weekend. You won't be disappointed. That's right. All right, it's closing time, George.

So if you guys enjoyed this episode, make sure to leave a review. We read them. We appreciate them. And it helps get the episode out in front of more people, and we will say it over and over again, George, we want America to be in control of their money. So this is their gateway.

And have fun with it. It's like their gateway drug into knowing and understanding money and having fun with money this podcast. And if you didn't enjoy it, keep that to yourself. No need to share that. And just move on with your life. And all you people that hate women that are going to take part of your money, like, we don't, you can stop that too. Wait till the comments on this episode on YouTube, Rachel.

I will prove my point. I know. I don't, yeah. And don't forget to check out my book, Breaking Free from Broke, now available at ramesesolutions.com. That's right, George. And join us next Thursday on our all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.