Surviving Your Partner in Retirement
The chance one partner will die before the other is 100% for any couple. Generally, it is the husband who passes away first. This is due to a combination of biological factors and differences in health behaviours or social networks. According to Statistics Canada, the wife frequently lives from 3 to 6 years longer.
Given this information, it is important for each partner to create a personalized and detailed retirement plan which permits the survivor to continue living a wholesome life.
Tips for living alone
- Create a budget. Understand your spending, build an emergency fund to cover unexpected costs, and develop a debt-reduction strategy. Seek support from a financial advisor to gain perspective and personalized guidance.
- Maintain a daily schedule. Identify priorities and set realistic goals. List all tasks and group them by time of day and energy levels. Build in flexibility to accommodate unexpected events and regular breaks to prevent burnout.
- Consider adopting a pet. When living alone, a pet can be a rewarding experience, providing companionship and improving mental well-being.
- Cultivate a support network. Our friends, family, and people we trust are our social network. They make us happy and help us lead a good life. Continue expanding your network.
- Stay social. Actively pursue interests by joining clubs, taking classes, or volunteering in your community. Using technology for virtual meetups and staying connected digitally also helps build new social opportunities.
- Think about where you live. The options include living abroad, living in a walkable community, finding roommates, living in a retirement community, living in your home or in a village. There are positive and negatives for each.
- Identify financial and health proxies. It’s important to have documented someone who can speak for you and your wishes if something happens to you.
- Identify someone to check in with regularly. Whether you are worried about a health issue, a fall, or perhaps dementia, it will be invaluable for you to have someone you check in with.
- Invest in an alert system. A medical alert system can be great for your peace of mind as you age.
- Don’t give up on travel. Just because you are single doesn’t mean you have to give up on your wanderlust. Traveling alone as a single retiree is an empowering opportunity for personal growth and freedom.
For more information about being single in retirement, read: Retirement: The Ultimate Life Journey. With profound insights, lessons from true stories, and self-reflective exercises, this book provides a pathway for you to make a successful transition from work to retirement. Reading it is your first step towards planning and achieving a happy and stimulating retirement.