You Got Divorced

This scenario might take many people by surprise. “One sure way for retirement to cost a whole lot more than you’d planned on is to lose half of your retirement savings in a divorce,” said Timothy R. Sobolewski, a certified financial planner of the Financial Planning Center in Amherst, New York.

“Frequently, a marriage fails as people near retirement age, making the problem even worse,” Sobolewski said. “Armed with no skills that might have sustained a healthy marriage and no planning for the often unforeseen divorce, their hoped-for retirement will suffer greatly.”

What To Do

An efficient method to prevent some of the financial side effects of a divorce in retirement is to sign a prenup agreement. This is, however, not valid if you’re already married, Sobolewski warned. In that situation, it might be worth it to spend some money on counseling now rather than suffer the bigger cost of divorce later on.