It\u2019s great to see you, Christine.<\/p>\n
Christine Benz: Susan, it\u2019s always great to see you.<\/p>\n
The Rise of Single Households<\/p>\n
Dziubinski: OK, so our topic today is retirement planning for singles. Let\u2019s start by talking about the data. What percentage of people in the US today are single, and how has that changed over the past couple of decades?<\/p>\n
Benz: Yeah, it\u2019s definitely grown a lot as a share of our population in the US, Susan. Pew Research Center did a survey<\/a> in 2019 and found that, of adults between the ages of 25 and 54, about 38% of them were either not married or living in a home with a partner\u2014and that is up significantly. The percentage of single people is up significantly from Pew\u2019s survey back in 1990, where they found that about 28% of people were single. Another dimension of this, Susan, is that in the past, women were more likely to be single than men. Now, it\u2019s the opposite. Men are more likely to be single than women. That has changed over the past couple of decades.<\/p>\n Retirement Investing Strategies for Singles<\/p>\n Dziubinski: Let\u2019s talk specifically about how singles need to be thinking about their retirement and planning for it. You say that single people should hold more conservative investments than people with partners, but they should have more aggressive long-term portfolios. That sounds a little contradictory, so walk us through that.<\/p>\n Benz: Right. When I say more conservative, the basic idea there is that your emergency fund needs to be bigger. I would say this is true of any single-earner household, even if you\u2019re married, but if you\u2019re the sole earner, it just makes sense to have that larger emergency cushion because if you lose your job for whatever reason or need to leave the workforce, that\u2019s just going to have a big impact on your household finances. In terms of your investment portfolio, the good news is that you\u2019re the sole decision-maker, so you don\u2019t have to reconcile your risk tolerance or your risk capacity with anyone else\u2019s. That\u2019s actually a real positive, but you are the sole contributor to those retirement accounts. Not only do you have to hit those contributions hard, hit them early, but you also have to make sure that you\u2019re taking appropriately aggressive equity exposure in your portfolio.<\/p>\n We see when we look at the data that historically women have sometimes pulled back from having the same equity exposures as men. It\u2019s really important that you have that growth potential for your portfolio, especially in the accumulation years. You might take advantage of some sort of managed account service or a target-date fund to help guide you into an appropriately equity-heavy portfolio mix.<\/p>\n Retirement Income for Solo Retirees<\/p>\n Dziubinski: Let\u2019s talk a little bit about the single who is maybe already retired, done with the accumulation mode for now. Should their investment portfolios look different from, say, a retired couple?<\/p>\n Benz: Probably not meaningfully, but one dimension here is that you need the funds to last only over your lifetime. You may have a bequest motive, but you don\u2019t need to stretch it over a spouse\u2019s lifetime. If your goal is to consume most of your portfolio during your lifetime, that would argue for having a balanced equity allocation where you have a healthy complement of conservative investments, and you get a bit more conservative as you move through retirement.<\/p>\n Social Security Considerations for Singles<\/p>\n Dziubinski: We\u2019ve talked before in videos about Social Security and how your claiming decision, when you decide to take those benefits, is actually a very important lever when it comes to your retirement income. What specifically should singles be thinking about when it comes to Social Security?<\/p>\n Benz: Well, a huge question here, Susan, is whether you\u2019re single, never married, or whether you are single because you\u2019re either widowed or you\u2019re divorced. If you\u2019re single, never married, the easy answer here is that delaying is often a really good answer, especially if you think you have an average or longer-than-average life expectancy. The key is that Social Security is a beautiful benefit to bring into retirement and that it\u2019s inflation-adjusted. It will last as long as you do. If you can take steps to enlarge it by delaying filing, that rebounds to the benefit of your plan. It makes your demands on your portfolio that much less. Think about delaying all the way until age 70 if you have that average or longer-than-average life expectancy and you\u2019re single and you\u2019ve never been married.<\/p>\n Planning retirement on your own? Use Morningstar Investor’s Portfolio X-Ray and independent research to help you build a portfolio aligned with your long-term goals.<\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019re single and widowed or divorced, you have to take a step back and think about whether you\u2019re better off claiming on your own benefit or your former partner\u2019s benefit. Here\u2019s a spot to get some advice because this can get complicated. Sometimes the answer is a combination of your benefit and your partner\u2019s benefit, so get some advice about that. If you\u2019re divorced, you\u2019ll only be entitled to that former partner\u2019s benefit if you were married for more than 10 years.<\/p>\n Long-Term Care Planning for Singles<\/p>\n Dziubinski: OK. Now, we\u2019ve talked in the past, too, and you\u2019ve written a good deal about long-term care and the importance of really thinking through the issues related to long-term care and retirement. What would you say, from a single person\u2019s perspective, that person should be thinking about?<\/p>\n Benz: Yeah, I\u2019m banging the drum for everyone to have a long-term-care plan<\/a> because it is kind of the elephant in the room when people think about how much they can spend from their portfolio and everything else. For single people, especially, it\u2019s crucial to have that long-term-care plan. The key reason is that, from a practical standpoint, for many households, our spouses are kind of that first backstop. If we need help doing things around the house, or getting meals ready, or getting dressed, or whatever the case might be, if the well spouse is physically able, they may be able to provide that care. It\u2019s just not there for single people. Maybe you have close people in your orbit who would be able to do those things for you, but lay that plan. I say, think about which of the three major categories you fall into.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve written a lot about this topic. Are you likely to require government-provided resources because your plan is very, very tight? Are you someone who might benefit from having long-term-care insurance<\/a>? Are you someone who has ample resources and will be able to set aside a self-fund<\/a>? Think about where you fall and then lay your plan accordingly.<\/p>\n Estate Planning for Singles<\/p>\n Dziubinski: OK. Speaking of plans, let\u2019s talk a little bit about estate planning<\/a> for singles in particular. What should they be thinking about as they\u2019re developing those estate plans?<\/p>\n Benz: Yeah. Again, for married couples, the spouse is often the easy button in terms of the first line of defense for your power of attorney and for the executor of your plan and whatever else. If you are a single person, you need to appoint those people to serve as your agents for your estate plan. A key point I would make here, Susan, is that many of us, and this is not just a single-person thing, many of us named these agents long ago, often siblings. That\u2019s common; a person whom you would name as your agent would be your sister, your brother, but your sibling is aging right along with you. Be sure to revisit those estate-planning documents as you age and update them. Maybe it\u2019s that trusted niece or nephew. Maybe it\u2019s some sort of paid fiduciary to help with some of these roles.<\/p>\n A general point I would make for single folks in the realm of estate planning is that paid fiduciaries can be very appropriate. They may be better situated to make financial decisions on your behalf than that family member would be.<\/p>\n Why Singles Should Consider Financial Advice<\/p>\n Dziubinski: Lastly, beyond getting that estate planning help, Christine, you say that it\u2019s important for single people to also think about getting financial planning help. Why do you feel like this is important for singles?<\/p>\n Benz: Yeah, I often speak to older adults who are single, and they\u2019ve been wonderful DIY savers and investors. They\u2019ve done all the right things in terms of tax management and everything else. The key reason I would urge them to get some financial help, even if they\u2019ve been very competent in terms of managing their investments, is that a planner can be your backstop. If you\u2019re unable to manage your investments, if you\u2019re unable to write checks for a period of time because you have a surgery and you\u2019re in the hospital, the planner can be your line of defense to help keep everything up and running. They can also be a wonderful flag if you experience cognitive decline and they\u2019re seeing that there are some issues with your household financial management. They can be there to maybe alert other family members that you need more assistance. I would urge people, while they are well, to go out and enlist that financial help.<\/p>\n Dziubinski: Well, that\u2019s great, Christine. Thank you so much. These are great ideas for planning for singles. We appreciate your time.<\/p>\n Benz: Thank you so much, Susan.<\/p>\n Dziubinski: Now, if you\u2019d like to hear more from Christine, be sure to sign up for her free weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances<\/a>. We\u2019ve provided a link to sign up below. Thanks for tuning in. <\/p>\n
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