Mo Money Less Problems?

The older I get, the more concerned about money I become. Being in a relationship adds an interesting twist to this issue. When both people in a relationship are concerned about their finances (in this modern world where men don't pay for everything anymore) paying for things becomes a lot more complicated. Bills get split in half, or one person promises to pay the other back somehow. It adds stress -- stress which some people might say is unavoidable today. Money governs our lives, even our love lives, and it's difficult to set it aside and focus on the more important things.

Things get particularly tricky once a couple gets married. A survey conducted by Citibank on divorce in the United States suggested that more than fifty percent of divorced couples cited money problems as the cause of their divorce. Furthermore, starting in 1980, socioeconomic status began to affect divorce rates: the rate of divorce among college graduates had by 2002 dropped to near 20%, roughly half that of non-college graduates.

Does this scare you? It scares me. Shouldn't love exist separately from the bonds of financial/economic status? Have we reached a point (or maybe we have always been at this point) where money is more important than love? I seriously hope not.