1. A reference magnetic memory element employed for reading to a magnetic memory element comprising: a first magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ); a second MTJ coupled in parallel to the first MTJ; a third MTJ; and a fourth MTJ coupled in parallel to the first MTJ, said first and third MTJs coupled together in series and said second and fourth MTJs coupled together in series, wherein the first, second, third and fourth MTJs initially each have a resistance value of R low ; the reference magnetic memory element further including a formatting circuit coupled, at an output, to the second MTJ and to the fourth MTJ at a node, said first and second MTJs being coupled to a control gate of the formatting circuit and to a bit line, wherein the formatting circuit is operative to pump programming current through the first and second MTJs thereby changing their resistance values to R high , the third and fourth MTJs being coupled at ends opposite to a respective end that is coupled to the formatting circuit, to a source of an access transistor, a gate of the access transistor being coupled to a word line and a drain of the access transistor being coupled to virtual ground, wherein activation of the formatting circuit causes programming of the first and second MTJs thereby increasing the resistance values of the first and second MTJs to R high , the collective resistance value of the first and second MTJs being represented by the average of R low and R high .