I have said in a number of previous articles that divorce among over 60s can be both a financial and emotional disaster. Dividing the family wealth at this time of life often means that both parties won’t have enough to maintain a comfortable lifestyle and will be dependent on the pension.
This uncomfortable fact was reinforced as I read a recent research report on divorce, published by Suncorp. The report was titled “Untying the Knot” and it suggested that women often came out second best.
Possibly the most surprising finding was that approx. 80% of divorcees failed to consider superannuation as part of their settlement. As a mature person’s super is often their second biggest asset (after the family home), it’s amazing that it’s not treated as one of the major issues to be negotiated. This would generally mean that the wife would be missing out on a substantial amount of money to which she is legally due.
The other major issue was that divorce can add up to 10 years to a person’s working life as he / she struggles to make up the money lost when the family wealth was divided. The report stated that 48% of divorcees were not contemplating retirement till they were over 70. The reality is that if you don’t own your own business, it’s not that easy to stay in a job in your 70s.
All these statistics simply confirm what was generally known, namely that baby boomer women are the most seriously impacted when it comes to divorce and superannuation. Most women have smaller superannuation than men and when they miss out on access to any of their ex- partner’s super, they can be in a dangerous financial position as they approach their twilight years. If they don’t already own their own home by this stage of their lives and are in the rental market, they can be looking at serious poverty in their senior years.
Unfortunately the divorce rates among retired and retiring baby boomers have been climbing steadily as couples struggle with the challenges of living together 24/7, so the future financial wellbeing of a large number of women is not looking particularly bright.
Paul McKeon