Most people in Tennessee know that getting a divorce can be a very expensive and financially difficult experience. This reality hits people at any stage of life, but it seems that it can be especially true and bleak for people who get divorced after the age of 50. A divorce experienced at this stage of life, called a gray divorce, tends to open the door to serious financial challenges.
According to Bloomberg, a study conducted by sociologists at Bowling Green State University found that people who got divorced after they turned 50 had a much higher rate of poverty by the time they were 63 compared to those in other groups. Participants who had never been divorced had a poverty rate of 3.4% by age 63. The rate for people who were divorced before 50 and remarried was 3.1% and the poverty rate for those who divorced after 50 and then remarried was 3.3%.
In contrast, the people who divorced after 50 and then never remarried had much higher rates of poverty by 63. For men, that poverty rate was found to be 11.4%. For women, the picture is even worse with a poverty rate of 26.7%.
Forbes explains that a gray divorce offers spouses far less time to rebound from any financial losses that are associated with their divorce. From splitting retirement accounts or investments to selling a family home, there are many elements of a divorce that slash a person’s assets. Many factors can contribute to a couple splitting up at a late stage of life, such as growing apart or even ongoing financial struggles.