widows

Group offers emotional support

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emotional support
dailymail.co.uk

Women start ministries to help widows

By Kandice Bell, Newnam Times-Herald

August 6, 2017

“According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 800,000 people are widowed each year in the United States, and two local women are making strides to help widows deal with their grief.

Susie Walker lost her husband Rev. William Gerald ‘Jerry’ Walker in June 2016. Walker was a pastor at First Baptist Church in downtown Newnan for over 30 years.

Walker said her widow group, W.O.W, which stands for ‘Women of Worth,’ began with nine ladies having coffee at her house in the fall of 2016 to help her with her grief, but the group has quickly grown to 30 or more widows.

‘When you lose your mate, all of a sudden everything you did as a couple is hard to do by yourself,’ Walker said. ‘Anything such as going to a movie or going out to eat.’

Walker said the group serves as emotional support for other widows. Some who were recently widowed and others who have been for years.”

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Have you received a financial wake-up call?

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financial wake-up call
lifemeisters.com

Widows, divorcees face financial wake-up call when spouses are gone

By Erin Arvedlund, The Philadelphia Inquirer

July 21, 2017

“Widows and divorced women need to plan for retirement differently. That’s the advice from financial planners and studies by Allianz, Lincoln Financial Group, and the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Women pay a higher economic price for divorce, separation, and widowhood compared with men. Older wives are doubly disadvantaged relative to their husbands because, among other factors, they’re less likely to recoup their losses from divorce by remarrying, according to a 2016 Center for Retirement Research study. Furthermore, men typically make more money than women, are more likely to have access to pensions, and are more likely to achieve financial security and live above the poverty line in later life compared with women, regardless of marital status.

About 65 percent of women save less than they need to, compared with 55 percent of men, according to the 2017 Lincoln Financial retirement survey, based on a national sampling of 2,509 full-time workers ages 21 to 70 who have been contributing to their current employers’ defined-contribution retirement plans for at least one year.

So what’s an aging American woman to do? First, seek out help, starting with a financial adviser, particularly one who is a fiduciary — the term means the adviser puts clients’ interests first, ahead of the paycheck.”

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Valuable financial advice

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financial advice
investmentnews.com

How to prepare your finances for widowhood

By Natasha Burton, Market Watch

March 9, 2017

“Despite more women becoming involved in, or even taking over, the family finances, widowhood remains a significant risk factor when it comes to transitioning into poverty. More than one in five women living in poverty are 60 and older; and widows accounted for a nearly 46% of poor women age 60 and older in 2008.

A recent survey of women whose partners died showed that half of them lost at least 50% of their income following their loss, and 48% had difficulty determining what benefits they were entitled to from Social Security.

Given that women live longer than men — in every country in the world, in fact — it’s important to be prepared for your post-spouse life and start looking at widowhood as a when, rather than a what if. Here’s what you need to do to remain financially secure:

Get involved in the family finances

If your husband currently handles all of your money, it’s time to change that, advises certified financial adviser and founder and president of EverGuide Financial Group Mark Painter, who has worked with several widows as clients.

‘Be involved with financial decision making,’ he says. ‘If you and your husband use a financial adviser, be involved in the meetings. I have found that clients with a dual role are more successful than those with one decision maker.'”

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Coping with grief

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What got me through the grief: The best advice from one widow to another

By Jan Robinson, The Telegraph

“When I  wrote my first book Tips from Widows, I gathered advice verbally from 29 women who had lost their husbands. When I wrote my second, Tips from Widowers, I found that the 15 men felt more comfortable writing their feelings down for me, rather than speaking them aloud.

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Key items to help make a widow’s life a little easier

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adobecreekfuneralhome.com

The Ultimate Survival Guide for New Widows

These 10 items will make your transition easier

by Laurie Burrows Grad

August 24, 2016

“Sorry widowers, this one’s for the ladies.

When Peter died, I had to face the practical aspects of living alone. I had to change light bulbs, hang pictures and open jars by myself. So I devised a list of key items for widows to keep on hand to make their lives easier.  Here are 10 of them:

1. A secure step ladder: A woman who lives alone surely needs a secure step ladder. Invest wisely and use your coupons at Bed Bath & Beyond to get the top-of-the-line ladder. Be honest. How many times have you stepped on a chair instead of a step ladder and almost taken a nose dive? More than one I bet! Be safe please!

2.  Tap lights: I live in Los Angeles where earthquakes are common so I always keep a tap light in every room of the house in case of a power outage. They also double as great toddler toys.

3. A screw driver: This item is a must for every household but particularly helpful for single women. Color me so proud. I just put my new license plates on my car by myself with this nifty little sucker.

4. EZ Moves Furniture Moving System: When you have to move heavy furniture, simply lift, place, and slide the item. It’s a dolly that doesn’t take up space and can be used for a variety of household chores. OK, it doesn’t help with my bad back, but just think how you can keep your chiropractor in business? (In the interest of truth, I have never used it, but it does look great in my garage).”

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