The 2010 U.S. Census reported single adult women outnumbered married adult women for the first time ever, due to such factors as their increased earning potential, changed sexual norms, and focus on careers. With savings and smart moves, single women can compensate for retiring without a spouse’s pension, Social Security benefits, life insurance policies and shared assets.
Here are some tips for saving for retirement on your own.
Debt-Free Living
Single women need to designate retirement a "Debt-free Zone". You should have little to no debt if your income and assets are to stretch for the long haul. Not to say you shouldn’t enjoy life, but do so within reasonable means: avoiding credit card debt, paying off balances every month and maintaining a high credit score. Single women should consolidate student loans as well as consumer debt, if possible. They should prioritize paying federal student loans and taxes first, as the government is authorized to deduct those outstanding debts from Social Security benefits.
Tax Shelters
Having no dependents does not have to be a punishment for single women at tax time. A tax shelter shunts income one would ordinarily pay taxes on into an interest-bearing asset. An employee-sponsored 401(k) plan or an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) are such assets. Year after year, these investments build into a comfortable nest egg.
Home Ownership
Home ownership is a financially-savvy, bold move for single women. Ideally, women should aim to no longer owe mortgage payments by the time they retire. A single woman homeowner should exploit every tax advantage home-ownership allows, including write-offs for property taxes and home business use. Women should also consider buying a multi-family income building, lease apartments, and live off profit from renters. They should always re-invest tax savings and profits into a tax shelter or as payoff toward other debts.
Long-Term Care Plan
Single women must also think about the possibility of injury or disability leading to early retirement and lessened overall lifetime earnings, something a local or Wisconsin disability lawyer would have to help mitigate. All women must think about how to maintain a positive lifestyle and independence until life ends. They can buy a long-term care plan from a trusted financial institution or planner. Paying into it is a savings account for future rent in a senior living center or assisted living community, or as a guarantee of in-home care.
No matter if a woman is single or married, she must think about the future early. Plenty of widows live well without the partnership they had planned on, and so can single women. Doing so requires women to think creatively and fearlessly about saving for retirement.
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- Adams Media Corporation
- Emily Guy Birken
- Publisher: Adams Media
- Suze Orman
- Publisher: Hay House Inc.
- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Larry Swedroe, Kevin Grogan
- Publisher: Harriman House
- Edition no. 1 (01/07/2019)
Last update on 2020-03-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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