It is inevitable that your divorce will impact your financial security. You may have to make adjustments to your lifestyle and your expectations for your future, including your retirement years. While you may have to change your plans for your golden years, it is still possible to secure terms that allow you to have a financially stable future.
One way that you can secure your future is to fight for a fair and reasonable divorce settlement. You can pursue terms that make sense, allowing you to keep many of your plans for your golden years intact. If you are facing divorce and you are nearing retirement age, it is in your interests to prepare for what is ahead and start laying the foundation for a strong future.
What should you expect from your divorce?
When you are younger and you go through a divorce, you have years, perhaps even decades, to financially recover from your divorce. It is possible that the end of your marriage will have little to no impact on your retirement. However, as you near your target retirement age, a divorce poses a more direct threat to your future hopes and plans. Some of the ways things you may need to prepare yourself for include the following:
- It’s possible you may need to push your planned retirement age back. Your divorce may reduce your savings or monthly income. This may put you in a position where you need to plan on working longer or work part time in your retirement.
- You may have to change where you plan to retire. It may be necessary to stay near family or to plan to live somewhere with a lower cost of living or more affordable housing options.
- Your children may be eligible for some of your Social Security benefits if you still have minor children at the time you are eligible to start collecting these payments. It’s important to know this as you seek a fair and reasonable support order.
These are only a few considerations that can be helpful as you navigate your divorce while also seeking to protect your plans for retirement. Before you agree to terms or make any choices that will impact your future, you may want to speak with a Washington attorney regarding your best interests. With the assistance of an experienced legal ally, you can pursue a final order that will allow you to move forward in your post-divorce future with confidence.