I am appointing myself the financial manager of the Bennets, what would have happened if they actually saved a few pounds for their daughters? This analysis shows how even with a small amount of saving and the magic of compound interest, they could have set their daughters up much better. The analysis is per daughter, so we can see how much one girl would have by their age of majority.
First, lets be realistic, how much can they save? I am giving three different scenarios, £25, £50, and £100 per annum per daughter. £100 each I think might be a little high, since their income is £2000 a year, that would be 25% of their income! But consider that we know Mrs. Bennet brought in £4000 to the marriage, so their income might actually be £2200. I think £50 is well within reason, that would be only £250 per annum even with Lydia and only uses 12% of their income.
Additional note: I did both 4% and 5% interest. These are both government bonds but I know that both are mentioned in Jane Austen’s works. The 4% might be safer and a better investment for a dowry. But there isn’t a huge difference. Anyway, here is Jane’s dowry, over 21 years:
Even if they saved only £50, Jane now has almost £2000 as a dowry. It’s not the £10k worthy of a baronet, but that is certainly a good start! If the Bennets tried hard and save £100 per year, she has almost £4000, which is what her mother brought to the marriage. Even the modest £25 per year would give the girls £1000 each by their 21st birthday, which if their father died would be combined with the £1000 stipulated in the marriage articles and give them a comfortable income. Even John Dashwood acknowledges in Sense & Sensibility that increasing his half-sister’s fortunes from £1000 to £2000 would make a big difference in their comfort (and then he doesn’t do it because he and his wife are the worst).
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