Retirement ideally is a relaxed time in people’s lives, as they can say goodbye to the 9-to-5 routine and hello to days filled with leisure activities and the opportunity to travel and pursue their favorite activities. For some people, it is the best of times; for others, however, it is something less. This is especially true if a person ends up going through a divorce right before retirement and loses more money than he or she had bargained for in California. This is increasingly becoming a possibility as more married couples decide to call it quits in their later years.
Research shows that people who are currently above the age of 50 are two times more likely to dissolve their marriages than individuals of the same age were a couple of decades ago. In many of these situations, the couple finds that they essentially lose interest in one another. The event may especially be painful since the two individuals have gone through so much together.
This pain can lead to depression if a person cannot overcome his or her grief. Many people feel that they are alone in the process. However, with a quarter of divorcing individuals being above the age of 50, more and more people can relate to the situation and can find solace in one another.
With divorce on the rise among baby boomers, it is wise to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best in one’s marriage in California. For instance, having a postnuptial agreement may help a couple to address issues such as how to divide property or distribute assets, such as individual retirement accounts, in a manner that both find mutually beneficial. Failure to plan ahead — either through a prior written agreement or by a negotiated settlement during divorce proceedings — may force a court to get involved and make decisions that could deal a significant blow to one’s finances, including one’s retirement savings, thus making one’s “golden” years seem much dimmer than anticipated.
Source: npr.org, Older Americans’ Breakups Are Causing A ‘Graying’ Divorce Trend, Ina Jaffe, Feb. 24, 2014