Divorce can upend your life in many ways, including impacting your plans for retirement. If your retirement accounts are marital property, expect a portion of them to go to your spouse. Even if your retirement is decades off, you will still have to consider revising your retirement plans to help secure a comfortable life in your older years.
A divorce does not have to derail your retirement hopes completely. With some careful planning, you may find yourself back on track in shorter time than you expect. The Motley Fool describes some tips to help you sort out your steps towards retirement.
Drafting a new plan
In addition to the loss of some of your retirement money, your spouse may have brought in an income that you no longer have access to. So your post-divorce life may consist of only your income to finance a retirement. With this new dynamic in place, you can draft a new retirement plan that takes your current assets and income level into account. This plan will help you work out how much you want to put away for retirement.
Starting small
Your finances are likely to be in a disorganized state following your divorce, so you may not be in a position to put away a lot of money towards retirement. If you cannot meet your contribution goals right away, you might consider saving smaller amounts until your finances stabilize or you see a rise in your income. If you can do so, you might save extra money until you catch up with where you want to be.
Revising your retirement downward
Your retirement plan should be realistic. If you have lost a lot of income and have no immediate prospects to raise it again, you may have to lower your retirement goals. To do so, you could plan to retire on a lower income, perhaps by moving into a smaller home with fewer expenses. As an alternative, you may push your retirement date forward by several years to make up more income.