Like all the other married men on here you somehow took my comments to mean "stay out of all relationships altogether". Not what I meant at all. I strictly meant marriage. If you have a good marriage then great. Never said there wasn't ever a good one, but divorce rates speak for themselves and people change (men and women). So when stuff goes south a person can lose a life time's worth of assets. I was lucky and dodged a bullet with my divorce in that it cost me very little. Over 70% of trips I fly with the other pilot has been raped in court over a divorce. Just a few days ago flew a 3 day trip and two different pilots who were in their 50's lost a half a million a piece or more and both after long marriages. I've been in this business for over 2 decades and those stories are rampant. We've all heard them. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that marriage, while a religious institution for some, is essentially the biggest legal financial scam on the planet highly tilted in a woman's favor. Once in, the only way out is with a price. Not to mention there's other pitfalls with marriage such as the gossipy pilot's wive's club on FB where some vengeful woman is throwing someone under the bus.

A marriage is not essential to "be happy" or to live longer. You can have a relationship with a partner without being married or living together and your life's work isn't at risk and be completely happy at same time. If a woman is OK with that scenario it shows me she's way more trust worthy than where a woman needs that legal agreement to be with a man. It proves she's not looking for the pay day.

The other part of my comments about doing what I want when I want aren't "self centered" as many of the married men on here are trying to say. Being self centered suggests I only think of myself and don't consider others or do anything for others. Couldn't be further from the truth. I do plenty for the GF. That comment means that it's my life and if I want to go golf, or go visit a friend in another state, buy a new car or anything of the like, I go do it and don't have to "run" it by the wife for approval. I simply let the GF know that's what I'm doing and she's say "OK!". No way could I tolerate a woman telling me I couldn't go do something or buy something (with the money I earn) because of ...... fill in the blank for a reason as many many many of the married guys I fly with deal with. And by the way, the flip side is true for the GF. She's free to do what she wants when she wants without needing any permission from me. It's a wonderful arrangement.

Now if you have the marriage where your wife is just kick ass awesome then great!!! Good for you and all the other happily married men on here. No need to convince me how happy you are. I have nothing against that. However, IF things ever go south for any of you, the big difference between you guys and me is that I won't be giving up one cent to get out of a relationship, I won't have to find a new place to live and I won't have to adjust my retirement plans because I gave half of my assets to the ex. There's a saying: "You never really know a woman until you meet her in court".