Crazy New Investment Idea: Divorces!

Here’s a tip to diversify your portfolio: Invest in divorce! Crazy, you say? Not so, says the New York Times, which reports that a new industry doing just that has been born in, you guessed it, California. The business plan is simple: Cover the often high cost of a break-up for one of the divorcing parties, usually the woman, in return for a share of the eventual settlement. The investment allows the spouse to maintain her (or his) lifestyle while sustaining the divorce proceedings. As one company executive says, “It furthers the concept of putting both spouses on an equal playing field.”

There are only a few companies involved so far but the list of entrants is set to grow because, as history has shown, some in the financial world will invest in anything. Why not nasty divorces? Read the full article. (Or click for another company that'll do the dumping—including starting your divorce—for you.)