Many of these people may have separated before the divorce became official, which would help explain why wealth starts falling so early. Divorce is often a long and messy process, and you can see this in the four-year decline in wealth.
Getting married and staying married is a wonderful way to increase your wealth - but the key is stay married.
While men come out slightly ahead, divorce destroys wealth dramatically for both sexes.
We can't tell from these data the reasons why divorced people have so much less wealth than those who are married. If you really want to increase your wealth, get married and stay married.
Divorce causes a decrease in wealth that is larger than just splitting a couple's assets in half.
Couples' wealth disagreements arise because men report higher values for the family assets, while women report larger values for the family's debts.
Even a decade after divorce, the median wealth stays below $10,000.
Some people may also be working less and not trying as hard to build wealth as they have marriage troubles. Divorce is often a long and messy process.