Marrying for Money

â€Å"I’m a little shocked at t he numbers,† says Pamela Smock, a sociologist at the University of Michigan who has studied marriage and money. â€Å"It’s kind of against the notion of love and soul mates and the main motivations to marry in our culture.† (Frank, 2007). These shocking words that came out from a sociologist only suggests that in modern times, money should still be not the reason for marrying. It is a fact however that money is a big driving force for someone who wants to get married. At the back of their minds, there is the constant reminder of reality like divorce or annulment. However, they should also consider why they got into the relationship in the first place. Relationships are not built based on money. Moreover, one does not dwell into a relationship with the primary concern of money; whereas; it should have been the connection and the love that the partners share. Getting married is not like a hot potato that you can eat and spit out the moment that you discovered that it is too for you to handle. Marriage is a lifetime relationship and commitment; and this very same basis should be built on love, trust and respect. Ultimately, it should not be money because it devoid the vow that they made in front of the authority (may it be religiously or lawfully speaking). No matter how money plays a very important role in our society today, marriage should still be based on the wanting of both people to stay together for the rest of their lives. Additionally, since most of people these days are very agitated into climbing their way into the corporate world. People who want to settle down are the ones that have already made a niche in their fields. This only implies that they have everything they want or could ever want so the concept of money is the least on their priority. In addition, there are such things as pre-nuptial agreements which protect the assets of both parties. And people who sign to such agreements only want to protect their hard-earned money; so it is wrong to say that people want to marry for money. People who want to make money out of marriage are the ones who see it (marriage) as business or a way to get what they want. People who have mindsets like that are very superficial. Their concept of marriage very different from what it really is. Instead, they put a price tag to marriages. However, there are cases wherein people settle down more than once but it is enough to say that they married for money. Take for example Elizabeth Taylor who married five different guys. She is rich on her own that is why she married those guys because she wants to be committed with them for eternity. This only implies that once again, people who want to get married should want to do it because they want to spend the rest of their lives with that special someone. Since most people who want to get married are successful in their chosen field, that is the time that they want someone to spend their life with. Even though the person is really doing well, they cannot be considered truly successful unless they want to achieve real happiness. And marriage, in its purest form, is the only way to achieve that goal. Alongside the desire that you want to share your life with that special someone, the ultimate goal why someone should get married is the happiness that marriage can bring into your life. Marriage is about raising a family and that can give you an ultimate high that not even any achievement can bring. Money is a measure of how successful you are but a happy marriage is also another. Money come and go but family will not. Marrying because of money is a very superficial reason. Marriage is about a commitment of two people to become one which have the same mindset of achieving a happier state in life.   Marriage should be built on trust; respect and love because those really are the basic foundation of a successful future family which ultimately is one of the measurements of how successful you have become. References: Frank, R. (2007). Marrying for Love†¦of money [Electronic Version]. The Wall Street Journal.Retrieved January 16, 2008   from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119760031991928727.html.