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Aside from the emotional toll, separation or divorce can bring plenty of money problems — and, as is the case with any major life event, failing to take into account the monetary issues can leave people in dire financial straits.
According to Forbes, the median cost of divorce in the U.S. is $7,000 — however, the average is $15,000 to $20,000, indicating that a small number of far pricier, contested divorces are skewing the numbers.
For someone in their early 50s with minimal savings, ensuring a happy, financially secure retirement may already seem like a pipe dream, even without the additional strain of a divorce into the mix. Luckily, not all hope is lost.
Here’s what to do if you’ve had a major life change with retirement on the horizon.
A survey from investing firm Schroders showed that 46% of Americans who participate in a workplace retirement plan expect to have less than $500,000 saved by the time they retire. One the other hand, these same participants believe it takes $1.2 million to retire comfortably.
Often when people panic about their retirement savings, they start looking for little ways they can make cuts to their monthly expenses.
One of the best ways to downsize your fixed expenses is by shopping around for a better rate on your home and car insurance.
In just under 2 minutes, you can explore competitive rates from top insurance providers and save an average of $482 per year on your plan.
With OfficialCarInsurance, you can also ensure that you’re cutting your car insurance costs down to size, and keeping them within the scope of your fixed income.
Getting started with a quote is easy: When you enter your age, your home state, the type of vehicle you drive and your driving record, OfficialCarInsurance will sort through the leading insurance companies in your area, and give you the best deals from top providers like Progressive, Allstate and GEICO.
The process is 100% free and won’t affect your credit score — guaranteed.
Whether you do it by downgrading on fixed expenses or creating a strict budget, you need to start by making retirement savings your first priority.
If you’re 52 with $60,000 in savings and you want to retire at 65, you’d need to stash away roughly $2,700 per month over the next 13 years to end up with a $1-million nest egg, assuming a 10% average annual return.
One of the easiest ways to invest is to open a self-directed trade account with SoFi. This DIY approach allows you to invest with no commission fees, plus, for a limited time, you can get up to $3,000 in stock when you fund a new account.
SoFi is designed to help you learn investing as you go, with real-time investing news, curated content and the data you need to make smart decisions about the stocks that matter most to you.
If you haven’t already, start contributing to tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Luckily, you’re past age 50, which means the IRS allows you to make catch-up contributions.
For example, you can add an additional $7,500 beyond the standard limits for a 401(k), or contribute another $1,000 to a Roth IRA.
Of course, not all companies offer 401(k) plans — but there are other options for saving for retirement beyond a traditional IRA or Roth IRA. But did you know you can also opt for a self-directed IRA with gold or other precious metals as a substantial component?
This kind of ‘gold IRA’ combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the inflation-resistant properties of gold.
Opening a gold IRA with the help of Goldco allows you to invest in gold and other precious metals in physical forms while also providing the significant tax advantages of an IRA.
With a minimum purchase of $10,000, Goldco offers will match up to 10% of qualified purchases in free silver.
