The careers themselves are stressful, like the nature of the work we do.

We're both litigators. It's inherently adversarial. He's managing the firm as well as managing a

caseload and he comes home and he's stressed and I feel like where's the financial reward in exchange

for this level of stress that he's under and that pattern just repeats itself every day.

I would really like to be able to sleep it better at night and you don't sleep well at night

now because of what? Financial stress? I feel really, really resentful of the situation.

He chose to marry me even though it meant the complete financial destruction for him, really.

I am resentful and one part of it is that I can be relieved of my obligations if my ex-wife

remarries or enters into some sort of co-habitation relationship.

The likelihood of that happening is very low because of the money that I pay her every month.

In other words, she doesn't want to do it because the cash would stop.

That's right. Wow.

Meet John and Rebecca, both attorneys. John is 61 and Rebecca is 44. This is their

second marriage. To recap what you just heard, John is paying about $70,000 a year in support

between his ex-wife support payments and the life insurance that he's legally obligated

to maintain for her. He's also paying an additional $600 a month so that Rebecca is covered by

life insurance. Though they both earn good salaries, around $200,000 a year, he has a highly

variable income that makes it hard to save, especially when he owes about $70,000 a year

to his ex. Speaking of that, can you imagine having to pay $70,000 a year to an ex forever?

Imagine how it would make you feel about money. Think about commuting to work every day.

Think about every paycheck you made. Think about how you would even feel if you got a raise.

John and Rebecca have been living with this for years.

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