Love, actuarially: upcoming brides and grooms both expect marriage will deliver financial gains

Holy matrimoney!

Roy Morgan Research reveals that affianced Australians are the most fiscally optimistic group in the country, with the majority anticipating being better off financially by this ti

me next year.

Whether it’s about merged assets, tax breaks, doubled household income, halved rent or mortgage, a forthcoming cash bonus from family and friends, or simply a feeling of general optimism, getting married is like getting a big pay rise according to nearly half a million engaged Australians.

New analysis of Consumer Confidence data from Roy Morgan Research shows that husbands- and wives-to-be are among the most fiscally positive groups in the country.

An estimated 460,000 Australians are currently engaged, and a majority (56%) expect to be financially better off a year from now — well above the national average of 39%.

Perhaps the word fiancé really needs another n between the i and a.

Engaged Australians’ expectations of financial position a year from now

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, July 2015 — June 2016 n = 50,712 Australians 14+ including 983 who are engaged or planning to marry. Figures do not add to 100% as a small proportion of respondents are uncertain or undecided.

Another 30% of engaged Australians expect their financial situation to be the same this time next year, while 10% anticipate they’ll be worse off — both well below the national average.

Consistent with the general tendency of men to be the more economically confident, 60% of engaged men expect their finances are set to improve, compared with 52% of women.

Brides are more likely than grooms to reckon there’ll be no change to their financial position (32% vs 27%) — or to believe they’ll be worse off after saying ‘I do’ (12% vs 9%).

Expectation of finances in 12 months’ time is one of five factors that go into the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index.

Although it varies week to week in response to economic and political events, across the full year to June 2016 an average 39% of Australians 14+ expected to improve their financial position, 41% anticipated no change and 13% predicted they’ll become worse off over the next 12 months.

Michele Levine, CEO — Roy Morgan Research, says:

“Most Australians who are engaged to be married expect to be better off financially a year from now.

Of course, other factors besides just a post-wedding windfall could be driving this optimism, including the fact that engaged people tend to be younger and on their way up in the workplace.[adrotate group=”25"]

However even within each age group, engagement delivers consistently greater expectations of imminent financial betterment.

“Love and romance aside, marriage has always included some consideration of financial security.

When ‘two become one’, often banks accounts do too. Whenever it happens, it will be interesting to see how the legalisation of same-sex marriage boosts Australia’s Consumer Confidence.

“But the honeymoon, as they say, may be short-lived: while engaged people are highly optimistic about their upcoming financial situation, this confidence plummets among those expecting a new mouth to feed.

Over one in five people due to have a baby expect to be worse off financially in a year — and men and women are equally worried. In terms of their negative financial projections, this puts expecting parents up there with those who plan to retire in the next 12 months.”

Originally published at Property Update.