Widows are Faring Better Financially

Widows are finding ways to prosper and be financially independent rather than vulnerable after their husbands pass away. According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College in n a study published this year, 13% of widows were living beneath the Census Bureau’s official poverty threshold in 2014, down from 20% in 1994. Tthe average age of widows in 2014, the year on which the study is based on, was 67.

Alice Zulkarnain, one of three researchers behind the center’s study, said the financial climb was rooted in advances in women’s work histories and education levels. But only 2.6% of women whose spouses are still alive are below the poverty threshold, so there is still a ways to go.

“Widows are becoming more confident financially,” said Dr. a financial adviser who travels the country offering money workshops to widows. Her mission is personal: she became a widow 12 years ago, at the age of 59. “Even though I had my own business, I felt like a bag lady.”

The methods to reach financial confidence and independence is not primarily based on being guided by an expensive financial advisor. Personal finance classes held by local organizations and nonprofits, educational finance blogs, and local investments clubs all offer specified, personal benefits for widows. The three E’s — education, enjoyment and earnings — are the guiding principles, according to Buffy Tillitt-Pratt, a founding member of the famous investment club Beardstown Ladies in the 1980s.

See Tammy LaGorce, Widows are Faring Better Financially. Here’s Why, New York Times, November 17, 2018.

Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.