Dr. Helen links to one of those annoying stories about a wife going on Suze Orman’s talk show to trash her husband, because he makes 25% less money per year than she does. He makes $90,000 per year (which is more than Mrs. RW and I make combined) and is in his forties and wants to go to law school. So this guy Joe declined to appear on the talk show. I’d say Joe is a very wise man. Anyone who can’t figure out that from a strictly financial perspective its better to be part of a $210,000 per year couple than to live alone on $120,000 per year doesn’t understand money very well. If there’s one thing worse than having your wife insult you on cable TV, it’s having to sit there and take it. I have a friend whose salary is three times his wife’s salary, and if he complained about the disparity to me, I’d suggest his priorities were all wrong.
If I ever find an issue to criticize my better half about, you won’t be reading about it here. I won’t be talking about it on some talk show. I would never speak it louder than a whisper, and no one but her would ever hear it.
I personally am opposed to divorce, but if I were in the situation Joe finds himself in, I’d be thinking of hiring a divorce lawyer, so that I could find a younger, more attractive gold digger who is happy having a husband who makes $90,000 per year.