Your most valuable asset can’t be found on a balance sheet.
It doesn’t show up in quarterly earnings. It doesn’t IPO. But it’s your greatest unfair advantage.
It wakes up next to you. It’s seen you ugly cry and still thinks you’re hot. It either compounds your life, or quietly drains you.
The most important deal you’ll ever close isn’t in the boardroom. It’s in the bedroom.
Today, you’ll understand why.
The most important variable in your long-term outcomes isn’t what happens to the S&P 500, it’s your partner.
If that sounds dramatic, it’s because it is. But also: it’s math.
Economists say married couples are more likely to own appreciating assets. Over time, that helps lead to data like this:
When you have a partner, you share dreams and realities. You’re merging balance sheets and belief systems, and the ROI can show up in every part of your life:
There’s a tired narrative that rich people got ahead by stepping on everyone else. But the truth? Most successful people are elite partners. They know how to build systems with others.
Funny how the habits that make a marriage strong… look a lot like the systems that help a company scale.
Despite all the evidence that partnership can make us better off, the data says we’re opting out. In 2020, the U.S. marriage rate hit 5.1 per 1,000 people, lower than it was during the Great Depression.
The drop-off is steepest where things are already hardest. From 1970 to 2011, marriage rates for low-income men dropped by over 30%, while high-income men saw only a 15% decline.
Once upon a time, your parents were worried you’d marry a drummer or a plumber. Now? They’re worried you’ll marry someone who voted for the other team.
When political identity becomes a prerequisite for partnership, you shrink the dating pool to your zip code, your college degree, and your Twitter algorithm.
Perhaps that’s one reason women are increasingly choosing independence, often opting out of relationships altogether. For a rising number, relationships are no longer even the end goal — in fact, they’re seen as an obstacle to happiness.
This isn’t just a dating problem. It’s much bigger than that…
If you’ve spent any time on Twitter lately, you’ve probably encountered Ashton Hall. The guy has absolutely massive biceps, an impeccable skincare routine, and a cult-like devotion to dunking his face in Saratoga Springs water and then rubbing it with a banana.
His videos have gone ultra viral, and while his chiseled abs get the attention, what’s most striking to us is what his lifestyle videos represent: a life optimized for one person.
To be clear, the man seems cool, rich, happy, and he can do whatever the hell he wants. But he’s also not the only one showcasing this kind of lifestyle. Online, it’s a widespread, aspirational trend.
“What is most striking about these videos,” as one writer put it, “is the element they typically lack: other people. In these little movies of a life well spent, the protagonists generally wake up alone and stay that way. We usually see no friends, no spouse, no children.”
Here’s the thing — this lifestyle of singular optimization comes with a massive economic blind spot: If we keep optimizing to remove other people from our lives, at scale, we’re going to run out of people.
No people, no security, no economy, no future.
Come to think of it, marriage might just be one of the most patriotic things you can ever do.
In a culture that’s begun to worship independence, one of the more rebellious things you can do is build something special with someone special.
Marriage is infrastructure. It’s nation-building. It’s one of the most decentralized, grassroots institutions we’ve got, and cracks are showing.
So yes, get rich. Build businesses. Stack assets. Rub your face with a banana. But if you really want to think like an owner and leave the world better than you found it?
Start by thinking about who you want to do it with.
The information contained here is educational, may not be typical, and does not guarantee returns. Background, education, effort, and application will affect your experience and the profitability of any business. Individual results may vary.
.svg)
