Widows

Losing a spouse is one of the most emotional occurances in one's life. Although it also has one of the most financial impacts as well, it is important to take the time to grieve and know that everything doesn't have to be done at once. Typically, women experience a drop in income and have to deal with a variety of issues such as taxes, insurance, estate planning and handling financial decisions that may have been made by their spouses previously. A financial professional can help you to:

1.  Establish a to-do list; this will help you to prioritize and to move forward, as slowly as you need
2.  Liase with your attorney and accountant to ensure your beneficiary designations and your investment strategy will meet with your needs.
3.  Review all life insurance policies, government and work pension plans.
4.  Review the current investment portfolio to see if risk and income requirements are still appropriate

Divorced or Separated

It is important to think about your financial well-being not just now, but in the years ahead. You must consider the long-term effects of owning or selling certain assets. Here are some issues that must be considered:

1.  Retirement plans have to be revised. Instead of visualizing sunset strolls, hand in hand, you are concerned about who gets what and how to pay bills.
2.  It is especially important for women to not only focus on short-term needs, such as caring for the children, and lose sight of the big picture.
3. If women have not been managing household finances, or have been jointly managing with their spouse, it will be important to get assistance.
4.  A 50/50 split is not easy when the assets include cash, RRSPs, cars, home and future pensions.
5.  Accepting a present value for an asset may not be equitable in the future. For example $25,000. in jewllery and furniture today will probably not be equal to $25,000. in a stock portfolio.
6.  Consider tax implications-selling your car for cash will not be looked at the same by Canada Revenue Agency as selling some of your portfolio.
7.  You have to divide your debts, ensure that you are not responsible for any future debts that your spouse incurs, and take steps to preserve your credit rating.
8.  You may not have any interest in long term planning for some time after divorce, but you can take steps to ensure your retirment plan survives your divorce.

Divorce can be a long and emotionally draining time in your life. It is important to obtain the support and expertise of professionals to help you to not only survive, but thrive.

Single Moms

When the single mom is the sole income earner, much of her salary may be needed to cover living necessities and long term financial planning may not be a priority:

1.  A stay-at-home mom may have to go back to work or back to school to upgrade her skills
2.  Review beneficiaries of RRSP and life insurance plans
3.  Retirement savings may have to be used for immediate needs; thereby causing retirement plans to be revised
4.  Unexpected changes in income and expenses making a new budget essential

It isn't possible to plan for every occurence in your life, but you can certainly have a financial plan in place that will provide the base for your future.