Four Tips for Going Solo

These Moves Will Help Singles Steer a Course to a Worry-free Retirement.

- Elizabeth O’Brien

IF YOU’RE PLANNING a retirement for one, you’ve got plenty of company. About 40% of women and 35% of men ages 45 to 64 are widowed, divorced, or separated or have never married, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

You’ve got it simpler than your coupled counterparts in at least one respect: You don’t have to square your vision of retirement with that of a spouse. But in other ways “there’s a bit more tension,” says Scott M. Sadar, a financial planner with Somerset Wealth Strategies in Portland, Ore. Singles are far more likely than married people to feel “not at all” financially secure, with 38% of singles reporting such feelings, vs. 23% of married people, according to a recent survey by Northwestern Mutual. Here are four steps that will help you be well prepared and less stressed.

SET A STRONG SAFETY NET