Guidebook for divorced women, widows

Single women, divorced women and widows often face unique financial challenges. Recognizing them is the first step to overcoming them. Dreamstime/TNS

By Elliot Raphaelson
Posted on February 24, 2022

For decades, I have taught personal finance courses at several colleges, including for almost 20 years at the New School for Social Research in New York. Most of the students were women; many were single, and many were divorced or widowed.

I learned as much from them as they learned from me. I gained a better understanding of why women, especially single women, continue to have many disadvantages in the U.S., and why it is important for them to recognize these disadvantages and take steps to overcome them.

I recently read Single Women and Money: How to Live Well on Your Income by journalist Margaret Price and financial planner Jill Gianola. I found the book well-written and comprehensive. It will help single women understand and overcome the disadvantages they face.

Issues if divorced

It is important for women who haven’t established a career and are unhappy in their marriages to understand the regulations pertaining to divorce. If your marriage lasts at least 10 years, you will be able to get important spousal and/or survivor benefits.

If your ex has reached retirement age, you will be entitled to significant spousal benefits as long as you are single, your divorce was two or more years ago, and you have reached retirement age. You also would be entitled to survivor benefits even if you remarry after the age of 60.

Even if your ex has re-married, you are entitled to these benefits, and these benefits will not affect him or his new spouse.

I have found that many women do not understand these regulations, and as a result have lost many thousands of dollars in benefits. This is but one example of the information contained in the book that will help you.

More general financial issues

The book covers important issues such as handling debt, investing wisely, safeguarding assets, managing tax issues, preparing for retirement, maximizing Social Security benefits, making money last, and engaging in estate and elder planning.

The book contains many references to resources specifically for women. For example, Savvy Ladies (savvyladies.org) has a great deal of free information for women and sponsors webinars.

It offers a helpline, budgeting advice, an online debt course and many worthwhile articles. (Many of my articles have been made available through Savvy Ladies.)

It also offers a one-time free conversation with a volunteer financial expert. Their webinars cover a wide range of topics including student loans, family finances, child issues and divorce. Based on your income, you may be provided sources for free tax preparation.

Other informative websites referenced include the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (wiserwomen.org), the Women’s Institute for Financial Education (WIFE.org) the Women’s Law Center (nwlc.org) and several others.

Single Women and Money provides sound advice to different categories of women, such as women who never married, women who are divorced, and women who are widowed.

Info for widows

In the section pertaining to widows, for example, the authors make a good point about applying for survivor benefits. Social Security regulations are complex in this area, and it is important to get sound advice from someone with expertise in this topic. Unfortunately, widows should not depend on advice from Social Security Administration representatives in this area.

It is also important to get sound advice regarding investing in retirement accounts and establishing a sound plan for withdrawing assets from them. The use of a knowledgeable fee-only financial planner would be a wise investment in these areas, even if only on a one-time basis.

This book should be valuable for a wide variety of single women, women who have never married, those who are divorced, and widows who are confronted with financial issues they never faced before.

Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at raphelliot@gmail.com.