Are Widows and Their Money Soon Parted?

Most of us know by now that money doesn’t bring happiness but the truth is that the lack of money can bring plenty of pain.

I’m not talking about money to buy a fancy car or a vacation home or taking a trip to Hawaii.  I’m talking about having the freedom to make decisions that will give you a good quality of life.  If you’re living without financial reserves you can’t control life when the unexpected happens.

Here are a couple of interesting facts:

  • 80% of widows now living in poverty were not poor before their husbands died.
  • The average age for a woman to be widowed in the US is age 55 as per US Bureaus of Census 2000

When your husband dies your life goes from secure to chaos and a lack of funds will change your future.  You may have to make decisions about downsizing, going back to work, investments and much more.

Don’t let anyone rush you into making decisions you are not sure of.  Your mind isn’t thinking clearly for investment decisions so you should have a professional go to the meetings with you.  There will be all kinds of well-meaning people with advice on what you should do with that insurance money, but dig in and learn as much as possible before you pass your life over to someone else.

As a widow we didn’t plan to be here and we wish we weren’t.  But we need to take charge of our finances or we will be in big trouble down the road.  Don’t take for granted that it will all work out on its own and most importantly don’t depend on others without first taking the time to check it out for yourself.

Leave a Reply