The Bigger the Bling, the Shorter the Marriage?

How much “should” you spend on engagement and wedding rings? If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably heard that two to three months’ salary is the rule of thumb; however, that’s a totally arbitrary “rule” and it’s one that few people actually seem to follow. In fact, what we see in the data is that for the average American, it’s closer to two weeks’ pay than two months’ pay.

Regardless of how much people actually spend, the idea is steeped in our culture that rings should be expensive because they’re seen as far more than just a piece of jewelry—they’re viewed as symbols of partners’ love and commitment to one another. But does it really matter how much you spend? Does the cost and size of a wedding ring actually have any bearing on the odds of relationship success and marital bliss?

A study published in the journal Economic Inquiry sought to explore how wedding ring spending is linked to how long a marriage lasts—and what they found was that, if anything, more expensive rings actually tended to be linked to shorter marriages.

Researchers surveyed 3,151 adults who were........

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