Why do people get married? whats the point?

[RvP]

Following on from the why do people have kids? thread, i thought id pose the question of why do people get married? i mean one of my friends just got married, and i went to the wedding and everything, and for the few days it lasted, it was pretty cool, but that was last September and now he has a wife and is tied to her for the rest of his life if he doesn't want to lose 50% of everything he has, so what i was thinking is, why actually bother with all that shit? because i mean there really is no difference in getting married or just living together like goldie hawn and kurt russle do. Which makes me think that either i have to be in the situation myself to see what the draw is, or that it is a women thing who like to get married for a bit of security?

either way, at the end of the day you only get a ring out of it and she gets a new surname, so i dont get the whole marriage thing but maybe its just me? im interested to find out