r/WouldYouRather • u/Future_Astronaut_300 • Jun 27 '26
Relationships/Personalities/Sex If you’re a straight man, would you rather marry a woman with $1m OR a woman with high earning career ambitions?
One or the other but not both
Clarifications: both women are otherwise identically attractive to you. They are both financially savvy (ie not extravagant spenders) and/or aligned with your general spending / money goals.
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
It’s the Million, as others have pointed out ambition does not guarantee success. Hell, it doesn’t even guarantee ability. Take the passive income the guaranteed money provides (as well as ensured retirement security) and work low stress jobs the rest of your life.
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u/Spiderbot7 Jun 27 '26
High earning woman. I’ll work till she makes it, then I’ll make a pretty sweet house husband.
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
$1 million would equate to a pretty easy passive $80k/yr income. Nothing says your woman with ambitions will ever be successful. Shit, I know heroin addicts who have high earning career ambitions.
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u/Blueclef Jun 27 '26
I agree with you, but I think $80k is optimistic. $50k would be more realistic for income that is reliable and steady over time.
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
8% is a pretty standard index fund return
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u/McSloot3r Jun 27 '26
Which doesn’t account for inflation. Right now with inflation at 3.5-4% that means that 8% return is actually about 4%. It also doesn’t account for down years. If you’re relying on 8% every year you are fucked in a recession
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
The S&P 500 has returned an average of 10% with a “real” return of ~7% (accounting for inflation) since 1957.
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u/McSloot3r Jun 27 '26
What’s your point? It’s certainly not safe at all to withdraw that every year. Also you say the average is 10% and we’ve had 2 decades of significantly higher returns so if anything we’re due for a decade of low growth
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
My point is I’m not making these numbers up or just pulling them out of my ass. I gave a static figure ($80k), I then supplied figures to back up how I arrived at that number. “$80k now is worth more than $80k in 5 years” is an entirely separate discussion.
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u/Weird_Ad_1398 Jun 28 '26
Inflation doesn't matter when you're comparing salary vs salary since it's the same for both.
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u/Tired_Dad_9521 Jun 27 '26
lol. It’s a pretty standard return over what time period ? How much volatility was involved in reaching 8%. The last 80 years of America is in no way indicative of the next 80.
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
Over 70 years. This is easily found information. “You can’t use the past to guess the future” is also a WILD take.
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u/clong9 Jun 27 '26
Literally every investment warning comes with “past returns are not indicative of future gains”.
And when you start the clock matters a lot.
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u/Tired_Dad_9521 Jun 27 '26
I think your historical data is meaningless. Expecting the US economy to perform as well again for another 80 years is quite the leap. The US went from a backwater to a superpower over 80 years. We are on the other side of the growth curve now. We don’t even have replacement level population.
Your belief that historical data is predictive is dubious at best. You are engaged in a logical fallacy. It’s like saying. I flipped a coin 100 times and it came up heads 100 times. Therefore the next iteration must be heads.
The previous iterations have no relation to the outcome of the next iteration. The next outcome is still 50/50.1
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u/hofmann419 Jun 27 '26
Actually, the rule is that you can only take out around 4% per year for the money to last at least 30 years. If you take out 8% per year, there's a pretty high chance that you won't have any money left after a few decades.
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
I’m talking about the return for investing. 8% is a pretty standard index fund return rate
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u/Critical-Werewolf-53 Jun 27 '26
80k 😆
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
S&P 500 returns an average of 10% with a “real” return of 7% when accounting for inflation.
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u/Critical-Werewolf-53 Jun 27 '26
And that’s not 80k and you’re basing off an average. You clearly haven’t looked at sequence of returns risk.
If 2022 hits again that million is 750k now. Basing off historical returns as a guarantee of income is ludicrous.
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
You’re right, it’s $100k/yr. And this is the average rate since 1957. That’s 70 years of data…
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u/Critical-Werewolf-53 Jun 27 '26
And a 10% withdrawal isn’t sustainable if you want long term income. Welcome to the reality of financial forecasting.
Stick to DoorDash. Actual math isn’t your strong suit
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
If you’re only withdrawing the interest and never touch the principle your sustainability is indefinite. Jesus this is investing 101 shit.
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u/Critical-Werewolf-53 Jun 27 '26
You clearly don’t know how returns work. That’s ok dude. Like I said stick to door dash.
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u/Mestoph Jun 27 '26
1,000,000 * 10% = 100,000
1,000,000 + 100,000 = 1,100,000
1,100,000 - 100,000 = 1,000,000
The math’s remarkably simple.
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u/Huge-Brick-3495 Jun 27 '26
$1 million equates to fuck all if she decides to spend it on stupid shit, and it will be her decision as it's her money...
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u/_ejerejere Jun 27 '26
I’d marry the one that I like better
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u/Future_Astronaut_300 Jun 27 '26
All else being equal - they are both fun, engaging, great in conversation and in bed
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u/_ejerejere Jun 27 '26
Then id marry the one with the bigger tits
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u/ofBlufftonTown Jun 27 '26
She’s going to do whatever she wants with the million though; my husband married me with almost 2 mil and I spent most of it like a dumb shit. This is a high risk strategy. (I’m doing better now, I had undiagnosed manic depression.)
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u/OGDTrash Jun 27 '26
How did she get the first million? Will the 2nd woman work 25 hours per day or just 8?
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u/Future_Astronaut_300 Jun 27 '26
Option 1) doesn’t matter how she got it (although nothing nefarious…) could have been inheritance
Option 2) high earning career would mean high stress too- ie working 50+ hr week/unpredictable schedules/potentially toxic work environ etc. but she is good at it and willing to do it
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u/OGDTrash Jun 27 '26
Good that it is nothing nefarious, but that means no chance of doing the same thing again?
Nevermind the answer. I would pick option 1. Invest the million and work (parttime) in a fun place and enjoy eachother.
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u/Future_Astronaut_300 Jun 27 '26
Yeah no chance of it happening again (unless it’s well invested and you get lucky on passive income)
But anyway, thanks for the response
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u/ofBlufftonTown Jun 27 '26
But I have other relatives who will also die eventually! You can count on me!
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u/OrganicDigitalArt Jun 27 '26
Both are gambles, I’d rather marry the woman with ambition though. Building something with someone and together sounds more fun than presumably her having money that she may or may not believe I share part in.
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u/DryBattle Jun 27 '26
Taking the millon. That's more valuable right now. Also I don't want a wife that works 50 hours plus a week. I want to be able to see each other.
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u/NordicNugz Jun 27 '26
Probably $1m. My only issue with the high earning career goals is the idea of time priority. How much time is she going to put aside for me? I dont require a lot, but I at least want to see eachother a couple to a few times a week.
I dated a woman who was starting up a business, and she eventually ended things because she didnt want to put any amount of time into a potential relationship. She just didnt have time or wanted to prioritize time for a relationship. Its also very possible she just didnt want to date me specifically. But im going off her explanation she gave me, which im inclined to believe.
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u/hextree Jun 27 '26
High earning career ambitions. Is $1m even considered a lot in this day and age? Not really.
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Jun 27 '26
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u/DaphneL Jun 27 '26
If she is anything close to my age, and has high earning ambition but doesn't have a million dollars yet, that ambition isn't connected to reality!
I'll take the woman with the million dollar brokerage again instead.
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u/anaknangfilipina Jun 27 '26
Marry a woman with 1 mil. I ain’t a gambler and I’m content with having 1 mil because STABILITY is god-like
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u/InvisibleBlueRobot Jun 27 '26
They can't be identical if one is highly motivated to make and earn money and the other one isn't. This is a major part of somebody's personality.
I pick the one I love. Either way I get someone motivated and (hopefully) likely to make good money or someone with a million dollars in the bank,
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u/Natirix Jun 27 '26
The first one, as long as I see that she won't just blow it on stupid shit instantly, or still works on top of having a mil.
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u/BroadwayBrick Jun 27 '26
Give me a person with ambition and she will make life fun regardless of money. Ambition is sexy.
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u/someonestolecece Jun 27 '26
Neither of these are something I think I've ever cared for in a partner, so this is kinda entirely in the now, but I think the former? Just having a sensible financial lifestyle - plus a lot of her own savings - seems fine to me. It's not my money, but a high earning career usually requires high time and mental commitment, which would impact our lives together
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u/Tired_Dad_9521 Jun 27 '26
I’ll take the woman who inherited a million.
I have dated ambitious women. They want me to be ambitious too. I am not ambitious. I want to do as little as possible to meet my families needs. I’m looking for a combined household income of 150k. After that, you are just buying more/bigger stuff.
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u/VeryLowIQIndividual Jun 27 '26
A million isn’t a lot for a married couple anymore. Probably take the ambitions if you can go through that with someone.
Personally I rather just not get married
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u/Unique-Luck-3564 Jun 27 '26
$1M. I put my ex-wife through law school and she decided to not work as an attorney. The plan was for me to put her through grad school then for her to put me through grad school, but after 3 years of being the sole provider I was still the primary provider and we couldn’t afford for me to go to grad school.
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u/Mammyjam Jun 27 '26
Million quid, I've got high earning career ambitions, I've been working 14 years now and I'm on £75k ambition isn't enough. My best mate won £1m on the lottery 2 years ago, he gets the same amount in interest that I get after tax each month
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Jun 27 '26
How much my wife makes doesnt matter to me, but if i control the 1 million dollars then i can make good investments from that that can pay dividends and set us up comfortanly for life and then she wont have to work, but on the other hand, if shes ok with me being a stay at home dad im fine with that
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u/lbz25 Jun 27 '26
Depends on how the woman with 1 million views money. If she puts it in investment fund earning a few percent interest yearly, that could basically be our retirement assuming we're both in our 30s.
If the woman has it and wants to just spend it all on various stuff I'd rather marry the ambitious woman as the "funnel" would be regularly refilled so to speak
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u/Talwar3000 Jun 27 '26
At my age, I'd opt for the former; we can retire and enjoy life without the hassle of careers.
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u/Zikkan1 Jun 27 '26
The latter is just ambition, doesn't mean anything. I can have the ambition to go to Jupiter, doesn't mean I will.
I will take the $1m
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u/Junior-Possession969 Jun 27 '26
Not a man, but I will 100% be your housewife if you're pulling down a salary and need your laundry did and your dinner and a cocktail.
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u/Top-Committee-954 Jun 27 '26
"would you rather marry a woman with $1m OR a woman with high earning career ambitions?" Since those aren't mutually exclusive, it doesn't matter.
To me this is like asking "would you rather marry someone with red hair (could be dyed) or someone that dyes their hair red (could be natural and they dye it a darker shade), all else being equal."
If the question is "really" would you rather marry a woman with no real career ambitions, but would never be a financial burden as they come with their own money, or a woman who is highly focused on career growth and maximizing earnings," then it's going to be no real career ambitions.
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u/No-Adhesiveness6278 Jun 27 '26
I think everyone seems to be missing the question of how did she get the million? If everything else between the 2 is equal we can assume she is financially set and savvy and also financially established so ya, all things being exactly the same otherwise I'm taking the one who already has her career vs the one who might make it.
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u/MattHack7 Jun 28 '26
The first. Sounds like she’d have more time in the evenings and weekends and we’d still be rather comfortable
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u/Cubbance Jun 28 '26
I mean, I'm not a straight man, but I don't see why I'd have to be to have an opinion on this topic. So I'm answering as a gay man, and assuming these are men with otherwise the same criteria. I would choose the one with the money outright. Not because of the money. I don't give a fuck about that. But someone with such ambition for a high earning career is probably just not going to be compatible with me. I'm more laid back. I don't want to play second fiddle to someone's career. I prefer more modest leanings.
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u/SnowPoppa Jun 28 '26
Im taking the 1 million dollar woman. If she has the same financial ideals as me she'll have no problem buying a home and putting a large amount of money in investments with dividends with the help of a finacial advisor. Why take the woman who has aspirations to make a million in the next few years when we could just have it now? Hell 500,000 for a house is above the median price in my state and 250,00 in a high yield savings account and we would be sitting pretty dandy in a year no matter what our jobs are.
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u/Hitthereset Jun 28 '26
The million, easy. I'd rather have a wife focused on home and family vs career.
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u/SailorOfHouseT-bird Jun 28 '26
1 mill in the bank already. My wife's account balance/earnings literally wouldn't be a factor in my wanting to marry a woman, but given those two specific options having some money already would be preferable.
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u/Daydreamer-64 Jun 28 '26
Does the person with a million work? Is she ambitious? What does she do?
A million is life changing, but it isn’t going to stop you from needing to work and sustain yourselves.
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u/chocolate-corn Jun 28 '26
With all the conditions attached, it really comes down to how planned out and well-executed the latter’s ambitions are. I’m all down for supporting my significant other in chasing their dreams and hopefully being better off because of it, but if it’s just all talk no walk, it wouldn’t be wise for me to bet on her “high earning ambitions” to ensure a better life for us. If she’s actively trying to achieve those ambitions with a few stumbles and successes along the way, the second option would be better
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u/hopseankins Jun 28 '26
Always take the guarantee. She could get hit by a bus on the way to the interview for the high earning career job.
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u/5joekabob Jun 30 '26
Probably the 1m, cause a wife I have a opportunity to talk to is better than a wife I can't.
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u/shinn497 Jun 30 '26
1million. I don't think it is very compelling for her to be a high earning career woman. I don't mind it. But I would want the chance for something else.
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u/Party_Presentation24 Jun 30 '26
$1m.
If they're both financially savvy, then the one with $1m dollars knows that putting their million in the S&P500 will get them an average return of 6.69% adjusted for inflation, which is $66,900 in the first year.
I'm in my 30s, looking to retire in my 60s. If we NEVER add any money to that account (which is stupid, we'd be financially contributing to that account every paycheck), that would be over $17 million dollars.
To put that into perspective, a person would have to make $425k a year, EVERY year, for 40 years, to make $17 mil.
Sure, the woman with high earning career ambitions might end up making more and also putting that in an account, and also investing....but ambitions don't mean anything. Everyone has ambitions.
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Jun 30 '26
Men don’t care about women’s money. I’m a straight man. And I honestly don’t care. I’d take the one with lower spending habits and less debt of the two.
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u/eepeqez Jul 01 '26
I am a single straight man.
Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather marry a woman who loves me.
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Jun 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/Cake_And_Pi Jun 27 '26
A wedding is about love. A marriage is absolutely a financial contract. Ask anyone that’s gotten raked over the coals in a divorce.
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u/MrNicoras Jun 27 '26
I'd rather marry a kind and loving woman.
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Jun 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/MrNicoras Jun 27 '26
Most marriages don't actually end in divorce. The statistics are screwed up by 2nd, 3rd, and 4th marriages, because the data shows that a person who gets divorced once is more likely to get divorced again. The number of married couples who are on their first and only marriage is over 60%.
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u/clong9 Jun 27 '26
Ambition isn’t a guarantee of anything