Should Wife Sell Engagement Ring to Pay Debts?
June 27, 23
(IDEX Online) - Is it OK to sell your diamond engagement ring to pay off mounting debts?
A US couple shared their dilemma with The Moneyist, the personal finance section of the MarketWatch website.
The (unnamed) wife wanted to know if her husband of six years was asking too much when he suggested selling off her $14,000 ring.
He was laid off from his high-paying job with a software company several months. They had quite a bit of debt, she said, but not a lot of cash.
"It feels like a heavy burden to wear it, especially when we have so much uncertainty and an unpredictable monthly income," she wrote.
Columnist Quentin Fottrell cited what he describes as the industry wisdom: "A tiny ring with a nearly invisible diamond is sure to be a disappointment.
"If she needs a magnifying glass to get the stone's full impact, she may even start to wonder if your feelings run as deeply as you claim."
Then he presented his own opinion. "It's time to divorce ourselves from our need to have big fat diamonds that cost twice our monthly salaries — really? — to show that we have what it takes to assume our place in society.
"The whole notion that the diamond industry wants couples to believe that the size of the diamond equates to the depth of a husband's love — and that it may lead a woman's friends to pity her — is ridiculous, self-serving poppycock."