Nothing can bring a loved one back or restore a ruptured marriage, but careful financial planning through all decades of life can mitigate the painful financial fallout

"Single, Divorced Mother of Three” wasn’t a term I ever expected would describe me. But it became my reality at the age of 35. The transition was difficult on many different fronts, except for financially.

As a financial advisor who deals on a regular basis with investments, financial planning, and insurance, especially for single women, I was prepared during my own transition to singlehood. I was (mostly) organized and knew how to pay my bills, manage money, save for retirement, and deal with estate and tax planning along the way. Whatever I didn’t know, I knew exactly who to ask.

According to the US Bank Women and Wealth Insights Study, only 19% of women consider themselves financially savvy. From my first-hand observations, many women are in the dark when it comes to their finances and estate planning. What happens when the unexpected occurs and they find themselves single, either due to death or divorce? “Sara, I wish I would have….” is the line I hear time and time again, especially now during this difficult pandemic.

Let’s examine some of the steps women (and men too!) should take at three different life stages to prepare themselves in the event that they find themselves making the hard transition to “single.” These stages are: newly married (early twenties), early-midlife (thirties to forties), and the golden years (sixties-plus).

Newlyweds: Start Off As a Team

Nochum and Shaindy are a happy chassan and kallah, ready to begin their life together. They have a few thousand dollars in their bank account from their chasunah and previous summer jobs, and a nice-sized Lakewood apartment they happened upon in a stroke of luck.

One evening, as they sat down for dinner, Shaindy hesitantly broached the topic. “You know, Nochum, there’s something we need. My zeide died when my mother was very young and my bubbe had no money to raise her children with because zeide didn’t have life insurance. It was a constant struggle for her, and I don’t want to ever be in that situation, chas v’shalom.”

While some couples wait until they have their first baby to purchase life insurance, they should consider making it one of the first to-do items post-chasunah. Since two of the main things the price of life insurance depends on are your health status and age, it’s advantageous to purchase life insurance sooner rather than later since generally speaking, the younger you are, the less health issues you tend to have. Get a referral or two for a life insurance broker, sit down with them and do an analysis of your current life situation to find out how much insurance you need (and qualify for), what type of insurance you should get (term or permanent), and the process involved.