I initially thought Dream Spouse. But really, since so few actually have one, and they seem to be as mythical as the Chimera, and the vast majority of folks seem to do just fine with an average/ok/not awful spouse, perhaps the Dream Job would be the better choice. I mean really, most of us spend far more waking hours at their job than with our spouses, I'd wager. So with a tolerable spouse, but a Dream Job, life could be pretty damn cozy.
Is it true that dream spouses are hard to find?? I'd argue that I have one. And I know quite a few people who seem extremely happy with their choice of spouse. I don't think I'd bother to be in a relationship if I had to settle for "not awful" :-P
With FIRE I'm hoping that overall I'll spend a lot more time with my spouse than at work over the years.
6 of us went out on Saturday for a guys night out. Four of us have been friends since college, one married a girl that we were friends with since college, and one married a girl that is friends with one of the guy's wife (got that? I could do a venn diagram/spaceballs reference).
Speaking from the stats:
2 - Are happy, and their happiness is derived differently. One spends a lot of time with his wife, one does a lot of things on his own (hockey, goes out).
1 - His wife is not happy. He works off shift from her so they do not ever see each other. They have no one to help with the kids. She has a strained relationship with her in-laws (father in law just passed away). The guy probably doesn't care. He does whatever he wants essentially.
3 - Are just existing to unhappy
While this is a small subset, if your chances are basically 1 in 3 to be happy in a marriage and the average divorce rate is 50%, I'd say it is pretty hard to find that spouse.
The other factor is, people change. Things happen that causes them to change. Things which are out of your control, in a lot of cases.