We're all familiar with the Friend Zone and what a drag it can be to find yourself there, but today I'm going to share with you a far worse fate and why you must avoid it at all costs: The Marriage Zone. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to TheKing for tipping me off to this hilarious (and searingly accurate) analysis. Consider the following a Public Service Announcement.

What is The Marriage Zone? I'm glad you asked. It's no secret that young women have far greater access to sexual opportunities than their male peers. Young men have to work hard to get laid; young women merely bear the indignity of free drinks while deciding with whom to bump uglies. As both age, however, the dynamic shifts. And at the point where men and women have equal access to sex (his access increasing while hers is decreasing) you find The Marriage Zone.

While enjoying a fine chat with another Certified User, an interesting topic for discussion came up. We were talking about watching friends and coworkers enter relationships, get married, and move away—including a whole bunch of them in the last couple of years alone.

“It’s funny, it’s like a recession brings people closer together!” went the observation.

And that got me to thinking…what if it actually does?

It appears congratulations are in order!

This is a love story for the ages. At the ripe young age of 82, billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros has finally found his soulmate, the one person on planet Earth who really gets him and completes him. And how lucky is he that the one person ended up being a 40-year old yoga instructor? What are the odds???

The marriage will be his third and probably final, unless he really has made a deal with the Devil. Before you go thinking that she might (might) have less than pure intentions toward old Georgie's dough, I'll have you know that Tamika Bolton (his intended) has an MBA from the hallowed University of Miami (Go Canes!) and once started an Internet-based dietary supplement company. So she's a business titan in her own right, thank you very much.

I'd like to engage in a little thought exercise today. Call it a refresher on Probability and Statistics. You see, my thesis is that at least one and perhaps several members of WSO got engaged last night, and I'd like to find out if I'm right. So let's start with the facts:

• WSO has 60,000+ members
• 90%+ of that membership are males aged 18-30
• The overwhelming majority of WSO members either work or aspire to work in a field where prestige and social stability are highly sought after, almost to the exclusion of everything else

Now let's look at some assumptions:

mod (Andy) note: "Blast from the past - Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from January 2011. If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

With Valentine's Day two short weeks away, some of your girlfriends are no doubt ratcheting up the pressure on you to pop the question on the most romantic day of the year. Maybe you already live together. Maybe you've been going out for a few years. Maybe you met her in a Chelsea dive bar on Tuesday. It's no matter. They all want the same thing.

Allow me to introduce Charles Brandes. Sure, he's a big shot today pulling in an estimated $16 million a month, but he wasn't always. He was once just a young monkey like all of you. And therein lies his cautionary tale. For it was at that point in his career that he met Linda King Formo, a single mother earning $6 an hour as a librarian.

mod (Andy) note: "Blast from the past - Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from November 2010. If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

Has marriage become obsolete? According to a recent Time Magazine/Pew poll, 40% of Americans believe that marriage is obsolete today, and 44% of Americans under 30 believe the institution of marriage is soon to be extinct.

I can't think of a better topic to write about on my 8th anniversary.

You guys know how I feel about marriage from a practical standpoint: there's no percentage in it. Clearly, Prince William is not a WSO reader. All joking aside, though, is marriage dead? For someone in a lopsided income/asset relationship (where one partner earns or is worth far more than the other), how could it be to the advantage of the more financially successful partner to get married?

Andy note: "Best of Eddie" - while Eddie is on vacation we're throwing up some of his classic posts from the past. This one from June 2010 is part of the very popular "Sell Your Options" 5-part series. More to come later this week & next. If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

Do you know why divorce is so expensive? Because it's worth it.

I don't think my advice today is going to come as a shock to any of you. In fact, if you're pressed for time, here's the takeaway: Don't get married, especially in your 20's.

Now, before I delve into the post, I have to point out a few key things. First, take my advice with a whole shaker of salt. After all, I've walked down the aisle of doom three times now. Second, I have to measure my words carefully because I am happily married now, my wife might someday get bored enough to read this, and I'd like to get laid again before I die. Fear not; I'll still give you the straight scoop like I always do. I'll probably just refrain from pointing out that dipping your privates in battery acid is a better move than getting married.

mod (Andy) note): "Best of Eddie" - while Eddie is on vacation we're throwing up some of his classic posts from the past. This one from June 2010 was the first in a series of 3 of "Sell Your Options". More to come later this week & next. If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

I'm going to take some crap for this series of posts. It's something I've put off writing for a long time for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it will be ignored by those who need it the most. Be that as it may, it's important advice and will go a long way toward maximizing the ROI on the time and money you've devoted to your career thus far. For those curious, the impetus for me to finally write this was this post.

I could have just as easily entitled this How To Screw Up Your Life, but in reality it's not just about avoiding these largely unavoidable mistakes as much as it is managing the timing involved in making them. In the end, this advice is all about lifestyle design and getting the most bang for your buck out of your education and hard work. I've personally ignored each and every bit of the advice I'm about to dispense, to my financial and emotional detriment over the years, and therefore had to learn the hard way. If I can save even one of you from these traps, it'll be worth the inevitable hate mail I'll get for writing this.

We spend the first two decades of our lives focused on one thing: expanding the options we have available to us in life. Every decision we make or that is made for us when we are kids is made with that end in mind. We're encouraged to do well in school, because that will give us more options later. Many of us work our asses off at entry-level banking, often for free, just to have better options later. The first 20 years of your life is spent on that one quest; the quest for the most and best options.