Income a family of four need to live comfortably by state in the U.S.

[Pew]

I do NOT believe in spending big $$$ on a wedding.

I’m old fashioned and do not like the circus atmosphere of fancy weddings.

Some parents will get a second mortgage to pay for a wedding…..

My ex's friend's wedding was 15k just for the ballroom and church reservation. All said and done it was nearly 25k for a non-grandiose generic wedding. My friend was smart when he got married and eloped; rather use the money towards the house.

No marriage and no kids for me. My siblings are the same way; marriage maybe but none of us want kids so our bloodline might affectively end at us. Interestingly, a lot of my older coworkers are the same, marriage maybe but a lot of them don't have kids. My CEO and her family is in their 70s and she and her siblings do not have kids.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

Why did the marriage rate spike recently ?

Lots of Visas were about to expire.

 

[John105]

My ex's friend's wedding was 15k just for the ballroom and church reservation. All said and done it was nearly 25k for a non-grandiose generic wedding. My friend was smart when he got married and eloped; rather use the money towards the house.

No marriage and no kids for me. My siblings are the same way; marriage maybe but none of us want kids so our bloodline might affectively end at us. Interestingly, a lot of my older coworkers are the same, marriage maybe but a lot of them don't have kids. My CEO and her family is in their 70s and she and her siblings do not have kids.

We did one in midtown Manhattan for $29k in 2008, which was a feat. I was tasked with just the rehearsal dinner. Initially? Venues were saying we can do it for $95/head, which I thought was crazy. I did some wheeling/dealing and got $31 and was very pleased with myself…as far as parents getting a home equity, I paid. Do I regret it? Yes and no. I would never do it again nor do I recommend that anyone waste the money. But it has a lot of meaning for many brides to be, so that is the sole reason.

Haha another can of worms but people who are sans gift and rsvp and don’t show….see ya!

 

[eljefino]

The birth rate is down to 1.6 - just published recently. Replacement is about 2.1. So unless all these married folks get busy were still hosed.

We already have a demographics problem, lots of old people compared to how things were when they last made assumptions for Social Security, pensions, etc. It could be worse, it will get worse, but it's already happening.

The government can't fix this-- if everyone gets a COLA increase, that rising tide pulls prices up. If you want a nice retirement you've got to save more than your neighbor. And it looks like a few neighbors don't save very much at all, so just be less dumb than average, LOL.

BTW that low birth rate might be due to 20-somethings not starting families until they're established in houses and careers. I can't say that I blame them.

 

[John105]

We already have a demographics problem, lots of old people compared to how things were when they last made assumptions for Social Security, pensions, etc. It could be worse, it will get worse, but it's already happening.

The government can't fix this-- if everyone gets a COLA increase, that rising tide pulls prices up. If you want a nice retirement you've got to save more than your neighbor. And it looks like a few neighbors don't save very much at all, so just be less dumb than average, LOL.

BTW that low birth rate might be due to 20-somethings not starting families until they're established in houses and careers. I can't say that I blame them.

It’s funny about saving more than our neighbors.

I’m on a team of 7 and only 2 of us come into the office. You can say I feel the effects of failed wfh. In a sense, I am competing with my teammates to have a livelihood and doing their work. So they’re winning the race!