Oh yeah...I should have dropped that little tid bit in! Never wanted children, so all that money went to savings/investments. And although I could have married at least a half dozen times, I never pulled the trigger because I wanted to make sure we were going to be compatible before signing the BIG contract. Relationships fail for many reasons...getting married after only knowing someone for less than two years is really risky. Works for some...they grind thru the "surprises", but fails miserably for so many others...50% they say? Kudos to you guys that pulled it off...all of mine hit the skids within two years...but there was one exception, but I found out after 8 years that she couldn't manage money...at all.
Never had a girlfriend that made more money than me. I'm shocked (and kinda saddened, actually) when I meet couples where she makes big bucks and he's kinda like a lazy, low budget kid. It's a weird world sometimes.
Unless I married a gal that made an income at least "comparable" to mine, having kids would have made a HUGE dent in my financial progress, no doubt. I've been making good money for decades now, but not that damn good.
This may sound bad, but I've never had definitive criteria for gals that I'll date. Beautiful women come in all shapes and sizes...but about 10 years ago I decided that I'm not going to date any women that are broke...those days are over. She's gotta be able to bring something to the table, not empty pockets or a pile of debt. Unfortunately, women with money aren't interested in dating a "lowly" house painter (little do they know!) and it's kind of a bummer because there are several gals that are interested in me, they give me little valentines and pour on the "make the move Byron" attitude but I won't pull the trigger because they're working low paying jobs and are just getting by.
Women operate in a certain way when it comes to signaling a man of their interest...really heavy right off the bat...and if you don't take the bait they'll back right off but leave that bobber out there in case you come around. You can't leave them hanging too long though, or they'll give up altogether.