Wow - as usual, late to the thread. Based on the topic, I can understand why one would be hesitant to remarry in their middle-age/late life. Wisdom comes with age and experience (you hope) and you probably can do a better job of analyzing the decision. I think the adages of "know yourself" and "to thine own self be true" are the most important.
As for the alimony/child support issue - yes, alimony is still around. I think that w2r and some of the other women posters here are not in the norm, i.e. highly educated professionals who have had a successful career track. I always try to remember the sword cuts both way, i.e. the courts will decide on the economics of the situation, so if you are the primary breadwinner, you will be the primary stuckee. Hazards of equality
So, in my case, second marriage is much better than the first - chalk it up to knowing myself better and being realistic regarding the expectations of a relationship. Also, constant communication and both of us looking at this as a 'partnership' romantically and financially. Similar goals and values are the key underpinning. Will we change, perhaps, but I think that around your mid 30's or so you have much better understanding of who you are, so you can make better decisions. Will we dump one or the other in our 60s? Maybe. But the saving grace is we've made sure that we each have the financial means to go it alone if need be, so the finances won't be the issue. That takes A LOT of pressure off the relationship in my estimation.
As for the fitness angle Nords brings up - yup, you don't want to get too slovenly - it says more about your self-esteem than anything else. For us, activity is such an important part of what we like, that we try to at least maintain some semblance of fitness - we like to hike, ski and play badminton too much - as well as travel. You must do some fitness activities to enjoy those activites, especially as you get older - otherwise it hurts too much.
Flash back - I wan't the one who actually wanted to get married, he was - it was important to him. Now in our circumstance, the military made it compulsory for us to be together easily, however, so far it has worked out very well. And we've had some issues, but we've weathered them well - it's such that it seems like we've been together for a much longer time than we have. It's a nice feeling to have a partner. I like it a lot.
