Feeling uneasy about their financial situation in retirement appears to be pretty common among seniors here in the United States. In a recent survey of U.S. adults ages 60 to 79, 67 percent of respondents said they wished they had saved more for retirement.
Among the things that can throw off retirement plans and leave seniors anxious about the future are financial shocks. The survey points to such shocks being pretty common for older Americans. Over half of the people surveyed (56 percent) had been touched by negative financial situations.
One thing that can have financial shocks for retirees is a divorce. The division of property in a divorce and the costs connected to a divorce could leave a person with less money for retirement than they were expecting. In the above survey, one of the most common trigger of negative financial situations reported by the respondents was divorce.
Now, this doesn’t mean that getting a divorce later in life dooms a person to having financial trouble in retirement. There are things people can do to lessen the financial impacts a divorce would have in retirement.
This includes preparing for the possibility of experiencing a divorce or other financial shock during retirement over the course of one’s working years. One such preparatory step is saving up extra when times are good to build up a cushion to combat shocks later in life. Another step some might find helpful is forming a prenuptial agreement prior to getting married to protect important assets and to reduce the uncertainty and chances of conflict a future divorce could bring.
Also, there are steps seniors can take during a divorce to protect their financial interests and future. This includes giving careful attention to financial issues in the divorce, such as the division of retirement assets, and developing strategies for addressing these issues in a way aimed at preserving one’s goals for the future. Skilled divorce lawyers can help divorcing retirees with the building of such strategies.
