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By SHERYL NANCE-NASH, The Fiscal Times
September 13, 2012
Being single is the new normal. Today, only 51 percent of adults in America are married and nearly 30 percent 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 102 million single people in America, which includes those who were never married, widowed or divorced, being single is about more than being foot-loose and fancy free, it also comes with a pricetag.
Singles spend a larger share of their budget on food, housing, taxes and health insurance than married couples, and contribute some $1.9 trillion to the economy each year, according to the Consumer Expenditure Survey. Increasingly, companies are targeting products and services to their needs, acknowledging them as a force to be reckoned with.
SINGLE SENIORS
“Single people have a tougher time preparing for retirement. Studies suggest that having someone else to plan with makes a difference,” says James Heafner, CEO of Heafner Financial Solutions. A 2011 Charles Schwab survey found that 85 percent of married Americans were saving for retirement, compared with 67 percent of singles.
That lack of preparation can prove costly come retirement, especially for women who live longer than men. “There will be no one else's IRA or 401(k), or pension to help out, meaning you have to live on your nest egg alone. You'll be relying on your own social security earnings record and not your spouses, and you'll likely be in a higher tax bracket throughout your life because you're single,” says Heafner.
Some 33 million people in America live alone, many of them by choice. Singles buy one-third of the homes in the U.S. today, unmarried men and women account for 10 percent and 21 percent of all buyers, respectively, according to the National Association of Realtors. But many single folks are renters, and average rents are now at record levels in 74 of the 82 markets tracked by real estate data firm, Reis, Inc. in the second quarter of this year. In 27 of them, average rent now tops $1,000 a month.
“When you're single, there's no one to split expenses like utilities and maintenance costs,” says Rick Kahler, president of Kahler Financial Group.
Read more at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Artic...t-Pays-to-Be-Married.aspx#a0r0MPM6kQxLi50z.99
September 13, 2012
Being single is the new normal. Today, only 51 percent of adults in America are married and nearly 30 percent 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 102 million single people in America, which includes those who were never married, widowed or divorced, being single is about more than being foot-loose and fancy free, it also comes with a pricetag.
Singles spend a larger share of their budget on food, housing, taxes and health insurance than married couples, and contribute some $1.9 trillion to the economy each year, according to the Consumer Expenditure Survey. Increasingly, companies are targeting products and services to their needs, acknowledging them as a force to be reckoned with.
SINGLE SENIORS
“Single people have a tougher time preparing for retirement. Studies suggest that having someone else to plan with makes a difference,” says James Heafner, CEO of Heafner Financial Solutions. A 2011 Charles Schwab survey found that 85 percent of married Americans were saving for retirement, compared with 67 percent of singles.
That lack of preparation can prove costly come retirement, especially for women who live longer than men. “There will be no one else's IRA or 401(k), or pension to help out, meaning you have to live on your nest egg alone. You'll be relying on your own social security earnings record and not your spouses, and you'll likely be in a higher tax bracket throughout your life because you're single,” says Heafner.
Some 33 million people in America live alone, many of them by choice. Singles buy one-third of the homes in the U.S. today, unmarried men and women account for 10 percent and 21 percent of all buyers, respectively, according to the National Association of Realtors. But many single folks are renters, and average rents are now at record levels in 74 of the 82 markets tracked by real estate data firm, Reis, Inc. in the second quarter of this year. In 27 of them, average rent now tops $1,000 a month.
“When you're single, there's no one to split expenses like utilities and maintenance costs,” says Rick Kahler, president of Kahler Financial Group.
Read more at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Artic...t-Pays-to-Be-Married.aspx#a0r0MPM6kQxLi50z.99
