Regardless of your age, if you are one of the married people in Tennessee, you know that marriage is rarely easy. Many people find ways to make their marriages work and even be fulfilling and positive parts of their lives. Others, however, end up making the choice to get divorced. The emotional and financial losses associated with the end of a marriage can be felt by any divorcing spouse but when you are at an age where retirement is nigh, you might evaluate the financial aspect of your divorce differently than if you were 20 years younger.
As explained by CNBC, a gray divorce is the term often used today to describe the end of a marriage in which the spouses are 50 years of age or older. At 50, 55 or 60, a person may have limited years left to work in which they may continue earning money toward their ultimate retirement. This poses special challenges for spouses who must split retirement assets with their partners during a divorce. Instead of multiple decades left to reclaim losses, some people have to rethink their retirement plans altogether.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics indicate that in 2015, 10 out of every 1,000 married people 50 and older were divorced. That is literally double the number from 25 years earlier.
This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to shed some light on the issues facing people when they get divorced close to or after the age at which they retire or originally planned to retire.