Posted on 09/01/2006 6:00:41 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
Womenn: Money more important than looks in a man
By Jennifer Hill Thu Aug 31, 9:44 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Women regard healthy finances as more important than good looks in a man, according to a survey on Friday.
Almost half (45 percent) said a healthy bank balance is more significant than physical attractiveness in a potential partner, according to National Savings & Investments' (NS&I) latest quarterly savings survey.
Just 22 percent of men, however, rate finances above looks in women.
A salary of almost 50,000 pounds a year is demonstrative of male financial success, according to women.
Men need to earn at least 49,247 pounds a year before women consider them successful and wealthy, the study found. And more than one in 10 women would only consider a partner to be successful if they are earning 100,000 pounds or more.
Men were found to have lower expectations, saying they would deem women earning 42,147 pounds to be successful and wealthy.
On the savings front, women expect their men to have an average of 24,281 pounds in savings -- compared to 20,335 pounds in reality -- while men are happy with savings of 15,143 pounds among women, much in line with an actual average of 14,167 pounds.
Dax Harkins, senior savings strategist at NS&I, said: "Finances form a very important part of relationship dynamics and this is reflected in the expectations people have, both in terms of salary and savings levels. Maybe people do believe they can buy happiness after all."
Despite marked differences in expectations, 64 percent of those questioned agree that financial security is important to the success of a relationship.
Kate Maycock, from Relate, said: "Feeling financially insecure will put some strains on a relationship.
"These latest figures bear out that two people are unlikely to exactly agree on what is a healthy nest-egg and what is a financial crisis.
"Accept that you will not change your partner's attitude to money, but that the two of you can come to an agreement on how you will manage your differences and plan your saving."
The research also found that regular savings are on the increase. Average monthly savings were 87.85 pounds in the three months to end-July, up 8 percent on the year.
This savings rate -- equal to 6.8 percent of average income -- is second only to a high of 89.11 pounds recorded in autumn last year.
Around 54 percent of the population put money away each month. They are saving 174.50 pounds a month -- a 10.3 percent increase on this time last year.
john kerry.
Related to this topic, and a statistically accurate observation. (Melas, this is a statistic - obviously it does not apply to all cases. If you found a good woman - and I know you have - more power to you, brother!)
Here is the link:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1694394/posts?page=1
Do you also have an opinion as to why it's stupid?
Well thank you, but I didn't mean to make you cry.
&&
No, I'm a girl, and it was a good kind of cry.
BTW, you made me cry again when you talked about your grandpa.
I never looked at caring for my 4 beautiful children as a full-time mother as getting "saddled with" anything.
I really have to explain why a theory that oral sex is a barometer of income ratios in a relationship is stupid?
C'mon, give me a break.
All the hot wealthy housewives want you? You are living very dangerously. Do you have a death wish?
Helen Thomas reminds me of the old saying about a fistful of hundred dollar bills and driving a new caddy. I pass.
I agree. It certainly points to some esteem issues, at least. You would think they'd see it that way, too. And a few do. I think it's a local, rural, cultural thing. A lot of interrelated families in the area. (Yeah, I'm an 'outsider', as you probably guessed! ;-))
Amen. I hope folks, at least locally, are approaching dating and marriage with a healthier view.
Not me. I like pretty. :-)
It must be culturally and regionally based. A lot of the small town is interrelated, and based in certain industries. Perhaps the attitudinal issues have to do with economics more than marriage as traditionally thought. I always find it funny, in a way, because I hear others on this board describe from personal experience pretty much the opposite, it's a woman's world, court system, etc. I guess my rural area is truly a bit 'backward'.
My brother and his wife are the first up close and personal example of the husband actually supporting a stay at home wife.
My sister and her husband, who live 3 hours away, have a healthy, happy marriage, she is a stay at home mom, and he works hard. The opposite of yours, with the stay at home dad and working mom, but with the same end result of them working together as a team. It's refreshing to see it work as designed, even if for just a few.
My brother and his wife are the first up close and personal example of the husband actually supporting a stay at home wife. Otherwise, 'round here, marriage is just a lot of extra work, responsibility, financial drain and aggrevation for the 'priviledge' of being called Mrs.
Oh, there are a few of those around here, too. Sigh. Desparate housewives in real life. But they wouldn't change a thing, as long as the financial life is good.
Of course, in a place like Clarksville, TN, they are happy if you are making six figures. In NYC, they won't settle for anything other than seven.
I can definitely believe it.
LOL, one blind date, a decade or so ago, had worked out just how I could be his sugar mama! We overheard him, before I was officially introduced. Maybe it was trash talk, but he was out of work and about to be evicted. The friend who set us up was upset that I 'let that get in the way' of the arranged date, because I left. (And I wasn't exactly 'rich' then - or now - just working.)
Threads like these have me shaking my head in amazement. Some of the same folks that castigate high earning career women also think is bad for a woman to want a good breadwinner. Somebody's got to bring home the bacon.
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