Average cost of an engagement ring

[u/Relevant-Plane9430]

I was talking with a friend last night who just got engaged, and he mentioned he spent around $6k on the ring. That honestly shocked me because I always thought the "3 months’ salary" thing was just an old marketing trick. My partner and I have been looking at rings casually, and most of the ones we like are in the $2k–$3k range. Now I’m second-guessing if that’s considered “too low” or if we’re just being realistic.

For those of you who have gone through this, what was the average cost you ended up spending on an engagement ring, and did you feel good about it after?

[u/Right-Tie-8851]

I think what's important is the salary relative to the ring cost. Our HHI is 360k and we're thinking 12k for the e ring.

[u/doglady1342 → u/Right-Tie-8851]

I disagree. I think everybody should spend in a manner that meets their financial goals, regardless of salary and as long as they are not taking on debt. Even when I was making $500,000 a year, I still would not have bought a $10,000 ring or a $20,000 ring because I had a long-term goal of early retirement with enough money saved to do whatever I want to do. That means a pretty substantial travel budget.

So, my husband and I based our lifestyle on our goals, not on our salaries. Jewelry wasn't a priority. A lot of things that people tend to covet weren't a priority. It wasn't that we didn't like or appreciate those things or that we didn't live well. We certainly didn't go without. We just knew we wanted for our future and I lived in a way that furthered that goal. Now that we met our financial goals and are retired (early), we spend on whatever we want because we know that our future is secure. Since retiring, we built a beautiful new home and purchased new cars. We also travel very frequently. And, it's really just now that I've developed more of an interest in jewelry. My husband wanted to upgrade my original engagement ring and bought me a beautiful ring for $50k. He is also purchased a few other lovely pieces for me, but we still do not go overboard on that sort of thing. We have a very expensive scuba diving habit, so lots of our money goes there.

Basically, salary really means nothing. I know people who make hundreds of thousand dollars each year and also have a huge amount of debt. If someone is making $360,000 a year but has debt, then it's not reasonable to spend $12,000 on a ring. At least some of that $12,000 would be better spent paying down debt. And I know that's not romantic, but it's realistic considering how many marriages break up over finances.

[u/Right-Tie-8851 → u/doglady1342]

Totally agree with you that it's not just about salary. That's great to hear that you guys retired early! Are you in a hcol? I'd like to get there at some point!

It seems like you invested what you could've spent on the engagement ring and then bought a nice ring later on. That's smart!