Surveys of married adults suggest that opposites attract when it comes to emotional reactions toward spending.

Interestingly, it’s been found that most single men and women state that they would actually prefer a mate with similar spending habits.  To read the full article, click here.

While no fail-safe formula defines the best combination of U.S. and international stocks, the available evidence suggests that the traditional portfolio of 70% U.S. stocks and 30% international stocks has historically offered enhanced long-term returns with reduced risk, and probably is at least a well-reasoned starting point for most U.S. stock portfolios. To learn why, click here.

 One sometimes hears – with ominous overtones for the United States – that democracies last only two hundred years.  Is this limit on the life of a democracy a fact, or an urban legend?

 Though often attributed to British lawyer Alexander Tyler, the origin of the saying is unknown.  History offers little support for it, however. 

 Advocates of the 200-year limit might point out that Athenian democracy lasted about 180 years, from 500 BC to 322 BC.  Nevertheless, other examples are scarce.  Roman democracy, the other obvious example of a representative democracy from the ancient world, lasted from 509-27 BC, or more than 500 years – far in excess of the supposed limit.[1] 

 A less well-known ancient example of a democracy of Native Americans also contradicts the limit.  The democracy founded by the Iroquois spanned several hundred years.

 British democracy can be traced to the English Bill of Rights (1679), and before that to Magna Carta in 1215 – in either case far more than two hundred years ago. 

 The American (1776) and French Revolutions (1793), 233 and 216 years ago, gave birth to two democracies more than two hundred years ago…and counting.  Obviously no clear evidence foretells the imminent demise of the American and French democracies, and already their longevity is stretching the supposed 200-year rule to the breaking point.

Recent history provides no contradictions to the 200-year rule because of course fewer than two hundred years have elapsed. To illustrate, the Japanese and German democracies, along with a number of other modern democracies, have existed only since World War II b just over 60 years. Thus, not enough time has passed for these democracies to test the 200-year limit.

In summary, history offers little evidence to support the contention that democracies must fail after two hundred years. Perhaps this urban legend had its roots in the bald speculations of doomsayers who had already concluded that the U.S. is on the decline, who then noticed that the U.S. is about 200 years old, and who figured that the imagined 200-year “rule” would provide convenient support for their own claims that the demise of the U.S. is closer than most think.

[1] Some imagine the 207-year Pax Romana, from 27 BC to 180 AD, was an idyllic period of democracy; however, it began with the accession of emperor Augustus Caesar and ended with the death of emperor Marcus Aurelius, and more resembles a dictatorship than a democracy.

A personal note:  Once I got past the first ten minutes, I found the remainder of this hour-long interview intriguing.  The video offers, from an odd quarter, a point of view supporting my typical financial planning advice to avoid excessive portfolio risk and avoid or pay off most indebtedness.  It’s worth a listen if you have the time.  Click here for the video.