1. PERSONAL FINANCE

Is Marriage Good for Your Financial Health?

Is Marriage Good for Your Financial Health?
 Reviewed By 
Kimberly Rotter
 Updated 
Jul 15, 2025
Key Takeaways:
  • Surveys show that married people tend to be happier and are likely to have a higher income than unmarried people.
  • Marriage to the right person could improve your financial health.
  • Working together as a couple can bring health and wealth.

Paying the bills, cooking for one, and managing your personal finances as a single adult can be challenging and liberating. When you live alone, you’re in charge of your own destiny—and if you get into financial difficulty, your own debt relief, too. 

When you get married, you combine your personal finances with another person’s. At its best, marriage can be a financial safety net that helps you navigate everyday life and long-term money moves.  

Marriage can, through the help of a supportive life partner, make it easier to manage money and build wealth. Survey data from the University of Chicago shows that married people tend to be happier than unmarried people. Also, people in the top 20% of incomes tend to be happier than lower-income people. Marriage appears to have some big financial benefits. A Pew Research Center study in 2024 found that married people are less likely to be low-income than unmarried people. 

So, is marriage actually good for your financial health?

There’s nothing wrong with staying single, and there’s no need to get married solely for financial reasons. But along with the joy of building a life with someone you love, marriage can bring some worthwhile benefits to your bank account, credit score, and more. 

Let’s look at a few reasons marriage can be good for your financial health. 

Marriage and Taxes

After you get married, the way you file your taxes is likely to be different than when you filed as a single person. As a married couple, you may choose to file jointly, instead of filing separate tax returns. This can provide a few helpful tax advantages for married couples. 

Is there a marriage penalty?

Mostly, no. A “marriage penalty” happens when the two of you pay more in income tax as a married couple than you would have if you filed individually. That kind of penalty in taxes doesn’t exist for most people since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That new tax law widened the tax brackets, making the income limits for “married filing jointly” twice as high as for single filers. So just because you’re married, that doesn’t mean you’ll be in a higher tax bracket. 

There are still a few other types of marriage tax penalties. But these are more likely to affect couples with incomes over $693,750 (you read that right), and couples with children (filing jointly) where both spouses earn about the same amount of income. That’s because married couples filing jointly can’t deduct as much of their income as two separate parents could. An unmarried couple with kids could have one partner file as “head of household,” which gets a higher standard deduction than a single-filer would. 

Is there a marriage bonus?

If one of you earns all or most of the income, you almost always receive a marriage bonus. That’s because the lower-earning spouse’s income can help put the higher-earning spouse into a lower tax bracket than they’d be in otherwise. 

For example, if you’re a single person who earns $200,000 in 2025, you’ll be in the 32% marginal federal tax bracket. But if you earn $200,000, you’re married filing jointly, and your spouse doesn’t work outside the home (earning $0), you come down to the 22% tax bracket as a couple. This can be a big savings on federal income taxes compared to a higher-income single person.  

Having Two Incomes Provides Double Benefits

Perhaps the simplest financial advantage of being married is that many married households get the benefit of having two incomes. You get two people helping each other take care of the everyday expenses of life. 

Two incomes can provide double financial benefits to your marriage. First, you may be able to afford a better home by doubling your budget for rent or a mortgage payment. Second, you can double down on decreasing debt and reaching other financial goals.

You might even discover that working together as a married couple can help you get energized and focused on reaching your biggest financial goals. What if you want to boost your credit score, move to a new city, take a dream vacation, and more? As a married couple working as a team, with two times (or more) of the income that you used to have as a single person, all of these goals are hopefully within reach.

Marriage Can Get You Talking About Money and More

According to previous survey data from the Pew Research Center, married couples tend to have a more positive view of their relationship than couples who just live together. There may be something about being married that makes people a little more connected and hopeful about the future. This more optimistic outlook can jump-start a pattern of open communication about money. Planning together for a debt payoff strategy or starting an emergency fund can help you stick to your financial goals.

Hopefully you’ll find that it’s exciting, inspiring, and healing to open up about your finances with your partner. You’re building a new life together and sharing your resources. Combining your bank accounts and credit histories builds trust and communication. Together, you can decide how to manage your finances in a way that helps you both get more of what you want out of life. 

Here are a few questions to spark a conversation about money as a couple: 

  • Should you try to live off one income and save the other?

  • What should you do about paying off any remaining student loans

  • Do either of you have credit card debt, and how soon can you pay it off? Who’s responsible for what?  

  • What if you want to open a new credit card—should you add the other spouse as an authorized user? 

  • Would it make sense to use one income for paying off debts or dealing with big bills like a mortgage, and the other for normal living expenses like food and entertainment? 

  • How much money should each person be able to devote to shared expenses, and how much should each person spend on their own hobbies, clothes, cars, and personal interests? 

  • What are some big dreams and life goals that you want to save for together, like vacations, new cars, buying a home, and retirement?  

Health Insurance Coverage

Being married could make it easier to handle the costs of health insurance and out-of-pocket medical bills. Marriage could inspire you to take better care of your health and the health of your spouse. If your spouse has better health insurance through their job than your current insurance, find out if you can get added to their plan. You might find that paying for a shared family health insurance plan’s premium is cheaper than paying for two separate premiums as single people.  

Managing your money as a married couple can also make it easier to save extra cash in a health savings account (HSA). If you qualify for an HSA through your health insurance plan, you can use this account to save for medical expenses with pre-tax dollars. A wide range of qualified medical expenses and out-of-pocket costs, like hospital bills, contact lenses, or cavity fillings can be paid for with your HSA debit card. Ask your employer if this is a covered benefit.

Retirement Benefits in a Marriage

What’s better than one retirement nest egg? Two retirement nest eggs. You and your spouse can work together to max out your retirement benefits. You might look at the details of each person’s employer-sponsored retirement plan and figure out which one is the best. For example, make sure each spouse takes advantage of any employer match in a 401(k). 

In addition to employer-sponsored retirement plans, look for ways to contribute to an IRA (traditional or Roth) and get tax advantages. Being a married couple with two incomes may mean you can put more money to work and build wealth for your shared future together. 

So, Is Marriage Good for Your Financial Health?

Even though there are many money advantages to marriage, most everyone gets hitched for reasons beyond the retirement savings and the tax breaks. Getting married is about love, commitment, and trust. It’s about all the everyday moments and the sometimes mundane work of running a home and building a life. Marriage can be hard, but most longtime married people will also tell you that with the right person, marriage is worth the effort. 

As you build loving memories, hopefully you’ll also build healthy financial habits and grow your wealth as you grow together.

A look into the world of debt relief seekers

We looked at a sample of data from Freedom Debt Relief of people seeking the best debt relief company for them during June 2025. This data highlights the wide range of individuals turning to debt relief.

FICO scores and enrolled debt

Curious about the credit scores of those in debt relief? In June 2025, the average FICO score for people enrolling in a debt settlement program was 594, with an average enrolled debt of $26,445. For different age groups, the FICO scores varied. For instance, those aged 51-65 had an average FICO score of 591 and an enrolled debt of $28,619. The 18-25 age group had an average FICO score of 556 and an enrolled debt of $15,107. No matter your age or debt level, it's reassuring to know you're not alone. Taking the step to seek help can lead you towards a brighter financial future.

Collection accounts balances – average debt by selected states.

Collection debt is one example of consumers struggling to pay their bills. According to 2023, data from the Urban Institute, 26% of people had a debt in collection.

In June 2025, 30% of debt relief seekers had a collection balance. The average amount of open collection account debt was $3,203.

Here is a quick look at the top five states by average collection debt balance.

State% with collection balanceAvg. collection balance
District of Columbia23$4,899
Montana24$4,481
Kansas32$4,468
Nevada32$4,328
Idaho27$4,305

The statistics are based on all debt relief seekers with a collection account balance over $0.

If you’re facing similar challenges, remember you’re not alone. Seeking help is a good first step to managing your debt.

Tackle Financial Challenges

Don’t let debt overwhelm you. Learn more about debt relief options. They can help you tackle your financial challenges. This is true whether you have high credit card balances or many tradelines. Start your path to recovery with the first step.

Show source

Author Information

Ben Gran

Written by

Ben Gran

Ben Gran is a personal finance writer with years of experience in banking, investing and financial services. A graduate of Rice University, Ben has written financial education content for Business Insider, The Motley Fool, Forbes Advisor, Prudential, Lending Tree, fintech companies, and regional banks like First Horizon.

Kimberly Rotter

Reviewed by

Kimberly Rotter

Kimberly Rotter is a financial counselor and consumer credit expert who helps people with average or low incomes discover how to create wealth and opportunities. She’s a veteran writer and editor who has spent more than 30 years creating thousands of hours of educational content in every possible format.