Here’s a thoughtful question from an unabashed golddigger:

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 – 250. But that’s where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won’t get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she’s not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

[…]

Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I’ve seen really ‘plain jane’ boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I’ve seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What’s the story there?

My best guess is that the “plain jane” boring types were rich before they got married. The upshot is that rich guys don’t have to worry that they are just after their money. As I explained in one of my favorite posts of yesteryear:

[T]he fact that people don’t want to be married for their money explains some puzzles about the marriage market. For one thing, it explains why people prefer to marry within their social class. If you’re rich guy, you would rather marry a rich girl because you know she’s not after your money. If disaster struck her family fortune the day after the wedding, you might not care at all about the financial loss, because at least you know that she married you for yourself.

In short, my answer to the golddigger’s question is if you have to ask how to marry a rich guy, you probably can’t afford one.

HT: Tyler via Megan via Thomas Hawk.