Making the choice to divorce can cause you to reevaluate your life, especially if you are nearing retirement. Gray divorces typically bring with them a set of different challenges than divorces between younger couples.
Learning about what those differences are can help you make the best choices possible for your financial situation and health.
Financial entanglement
According to Psychology Today, the more time you have to accumulate assets, the more likely a divorce will cause confusion when it comes time to split up those assets. Gray divorces involve couples that lived many years with one another and often have combined incomes or inheritances.
Assets like stock options, partial ownership of businesses and retirement funds can all feel exhausting to divide into two or determine who gets what. Many important documents regarding these items may be hard to find since many years could pass between when you first acquired them and when you divorce.
Long-term retirement plans
After such a long relationship, the stress you feel at the start of your divorce after so many years living with your spouse may cause you to feel depressed. Worries about retirement are common since many older divorced people are nearing the age when most workers typically make future plans and set aside funds.
Healthcare issues
After a gray divorce, you may need to find different health insurance if your spouse was the one who got benefits through his or her place of employment.
As you age, you often have more medical issues or an increased need for certain medicines, which can influence what you choose to buy for health insurance. Talking to someone professional about your specific health problems can help you choose the best plan after your gray divorce.