- Ziggurat Realestatecorp
- Apr 27
- 9 min read
Bill Kincaid and his wife had their retirement all planned out. In 2015, the retired physicians downsized from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., where they enjoyed museums, concerts, and other activities. But two years ago, Kincaid’s wife, Marilyn, died at 76 following complications from chemotherapy. Kincaid found himself alone, forced to recalibrate his life without a partner. “We had each other covered,” says Kincaid, 78. “But stuff happens.”
Challenges are mounting for retirees as the government safety net is in flux and costs mount for health services and long-term care. It can be even tougher for single retirees, whether it’s managing household finances, dealing with health issues, or warding off loneliness—a risk factor for physical and mental health. Solo retirees are now far more prevalent, and more are on the way.
People age 65 and older who lived alone headed 11% of all U.S. households in 2020, up from 9% in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. About half of women and 29% of men 65 and over are unpartnered, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data.
Those figures may rise as more younger adults reach retirement without a partner or spouse. Roughly 38% of the population ages 25 to 54 was unpartnered in 2019, up from 29% in 1990, according to Pew. And 53% were married, down from 67% in 1990.
Contributing to lower marriage rates are greater economic opportunities for women and less societal pressure to marry, social scientists say. Plenty of single seniors are doing fine—happy to be living on their own, with enough savings and help from family or friends.
It’s a mistake to assume that partnered people always have the best outcomes, says Michelle Putnam, director of the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston. But experts say the country is ill equipped to handle the growing population of seniors, and the singles among them who may be the most vulnerable, needing more health services, long-term care, and financial resources.
“The country just doesn’t have the resources to deal with the people who will be coming down the road,” Kincaid says. “We don’t have enough nursing homes to put people in as we age.” The safety nets that have been in place for decades—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—may now be facing cuts, too. President Donald Trump has vowed to protect Social Security benefits. Yet staff cuts, field office closings, and reduced phone service outlined by the Department of Government Efficiency could make it more difficult for people to access their earned benefits and may cause payment disruptions, say advocates and Democrats. “Any American receiving Social Security benefits will continue to receive them,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “The sole mission of DOGE is to identify waste, fraud, and abuse only.”
House Republicans advanced a bill in March that outlined $880 billion in likely cuts to Medicaid over the next 10 years. Jointly funded by the federal government and states, Medicaid provides health insurance for the poor and is the primary funder for long-term care in the U.S., paying 63% of costs for nursing home residents. Cuts may shift more of costs to states, which would have to make decisions of how to allocate limited resources.
The recent selloff in stocks hasn’t helped. The S&P 500 index is down 7.6% from its peak on Feb. 19. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell calmed the market’s nerves on Wednesday as the Fed indicated that two rate cuts are still coming this year. But the market’s bullish narrative is looking shakier, hitting retiree investment accounts. If there were ever a time for solo seniors to take stock of their finances, social networks, and healthcare plans, it’s now.
Here’s how some singles are dealing with the complexities and building a successful retirement.
Build Your Team
When Kincaid lost his wife, he knew he’d need the help of friends. Fortunately, he already had quite a few, thanks to a nonprofit called Village to Village Network. The couple joined their local group when they moved to Washington, and it has become a big part of Kincaid’s life.
“We instantly had 150 acquaintances, some of whom became very good friends,” says Kincaid, now board president of the Village to Village Network. Members of the group provide companionship and volunteer for one another—offering pickups from hospitals, taking care of pets, and helping out with groceries or shopping.
The idea, more broadly, is to create a team for support. Along with providing a social network, team members can include professionals who can help manage your finances and health. Designating a team captain may be helpful, too.
Elder law attorneys or specialists called “aging life care professionals” help clients navigate the services they need and refer them to other professionals if necessary. Attorney Eric Einhart plays that role for clients. “We like to say we have a pit crew for our clients. We wind up becoming the spoke in the wheel,” says Einhart, a partner at Russo Law Group in Garden City, N.Y., and vice president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorney’s board of directors.
Fix Your Estate Plan and Healthcare Directives
While all adults need basic estate and healthcare planning, it’s especially important for single retirees. This includes appointing a healthcare proxy to make medical decisions if you’re incapacitated, and a living will that outlines the interventions, like breathing support, that you might want or reject. Mary Johnson, a 73-year-old retiree in central Virginia, says that while she’s close to some neighbors and a cousin out of state, she didn’t want to burden them with being her healthcare proxy. She engaged a geriatric care manager to serve in that capacity, and asked friends and family to be conduits if needed. “I’m the kind of planner who likes to have a blueprint,” says Johnson, who has been divorced for nearly 30 years.
Kincaid named his brother in St. Louis as his healthcare power of attorney and communicated his wishes for his care and eventual burial. His local friends know to contact his brother in an emergency. Professional fiduciaries can act as healthcare or financial power of attorney (the term can refer both to the document that names an agent and the person acting in that capacity).
Different people can serve each role, and you can always change your mind and designate someone else as long as you retain mental capacity. Sometimes, older adults try to circumvent the need for a financial power of attorney by adding a relative or other trusted person as a joint owner of their financial accounts.
But that poses complications, says Craig Parker, assistant general counsel of product at estate-planning firm Trust &Will. No matter how much you trust that person, if they get divorced or sued, your assets may get tied up in the proceedings. The terminology and rules for advance directives vary by state. AARP maintains a list of advance directive forms by state on its website.
People with serious chronic conditions or advanced frailty can also fill out a portable medical order, which some states call a Polst or Molst. Put a copy of your healthcare directives on your refrigerator— paramedics are trained to look there, says Steven Barlam, president of the Aging Life Care Association. Don’t lock your documents in a safe, since that can create headaches if you’re incapacitated and no one has access.
Daily money managers, another type of professional, also help older adults manage their finances. They provide support with bill paying and other routine tasks, and some act as a healthcare proxy, financial power of attorney, and representative payee for Medicare.
Financial Planning
Most people wind up alone toward the end of their lives. Financial planning should prepare for that reality. Couples must ensure that both members understand the family finances so the surviving spouse isn’t left in the lurch if the person who managed the money dies first. Widows and widowers must also contend with reduced household income. When one spouse dies, his or her Social Security payments stop.
While surviving spouses might see a bump-up in their own benefits, those households don’t keep receiving two checks. Surviving spouses might find that their new tax-filing status of single pushes them into a higher income bracket for Medicare premiums, an additional financial hit. Even so, managing a portfolio for one doesn’t look that different than for two.
Either way, retirees should hold one to two years’ worth of withdrawals in cash. Say you get $35,000 from Social Security a year but need $60,000 to meet living expenses. You’d put $25,000 to $50,000 in money-market funds, high-yield savings accounts, or another cash equivalent. That way, if the market is down, you’re not forced to make withdrawals on a declining balance, a surefire way to drain your portfolio quicker.
Diane Bresee, a New York City retiree, has a couple of years’ worth of expenses in cash. She topped off her short-term bucket by trimming some appreciated stock before the presidential election. “It felt like the right thing to do,” says Bresee, who is in her 70s. Consider using a set withdrawal rate and keep it steady. A good place to start is 4.7%, according to Bill Bengen, the retired financial planner who developed the original 4% rule but has since bumped it up. This idea, if you’re planning for a 30-year retirement, is to withdraw 4.7% from your portfolio each year, adjusted upward for inflation; assuming a standard portfolio of 55% stocks, 40% bonds, and 5% cash, keeping withdrawals at that level offers a high likelihood that your money will last for 30 years. For a $1 million portfolio, you could withdraw $47,000 the first year and $48,410 the next, assuming 3% inflation.
The rule is customizable based on your circumstances—for example, people retiring in their 70s could safely withdraw more than someone with a longer retirement horizon. Bengen tested his withdrawal rate across a broad swath of market conditions and found that it holds in down markets. Still, for peace of mind, some retirees may prefer skipping the annual inflation adjustment following years when their portfolio has lost money. Bengen’s rule applies regardless of portfolio size.
But single women, in particular, may have a smaller nest egg than men or couples. Bresee, for example, worked her way up from being a bank teller in the 1970s to making multi million dollar deals in institutional fixed income sales. “I got 50% of the pay the guy next to me got, so I’m starting in the hole,” she says. With a smaller cushion, solo retirees may have to be more mindful of their cash flow, says Tana Gildea, principal at financial advisory firm Homrich Berg in Atlanta. She likes the bucket approach, where you maintain multiple accounts for different purposes, such as near-term expenses, vacations, and healthcare.
To help sort it all, she names each of a client’s accounts for their uses. Many advisors recommend a dedicated account for long-term care. Stand-alone long-term care insurance has become too expensive for most pre retirees. A popular alternative— permanent life insurance with a long term care rider—may be less attractive for singles who don’t have an heir for their policy’s death benefit.
Long-term care can be extremely costly, and many retirees will eventually need it: 56% of people turning 65 today will develop a disability serious enough to require long-term care, according to a 2022 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The report defined “disability” as long-term care insurance policies typically do: the inability to perform at least two activities of daily living or the need for substantial supervision due to serious cognitive impairment. Families may decide that their loved one needs support at lower levels of disability, so the number of older adults who will require care is probably higher than the report suggests.
The average duration of disability for women is 3.6 years, while the average for men is 2.5 years, the HHS study found. You can project the future cost of care in your area using Genworth’s online tool; multiply the annual amount by estimated years needed, and put that money aside in a conservatively invested account. If that amount is out of reach, earmark whatever you can—even having $25,000 set aside for future long term care needs can give you some peace of mind, Gildea says.
Dealing With Isolation Money matters tend to get the most attention in retirement planning, but the social component is just as key. Americans overall have become more isolated in the age of Facebook and other social media, and striking up friendships only got tougher after Covid disrupted casual meetups and groups.
Still, it’s important to reconnect and forge new friendships, using old techniques that still work: Jump back into an activity you enjoy and look for groups—whether it’s a weekly bridge game, book club, dance class, or Bible study. Give friends in the group your contact information so they can check up on you if you miss a meeting. A formal retirement community is another option. Johnson has toured some in her area.
Still healthy in her early 70s, she plans to move into one by age 80. In case she becomes incapacitated sooner, she has also lined up someone to care for her cat, Toby. Making a move may not be easy, but it only gets harder in a crisis, and your options might be more limited at the last minute, since many retirement communities have wait lists.
“Taking an action kills the fear and the worry,” Gildea says. Bresee, a former Masters swimmer, is counting on friends and activities to sustain her as she faces the decades ahead. She enjoys yoga, working out at the gym, and auditing college classes in Italian and European history. She does her best to conserve savings, figuring she’ll stay in good health for many more years even as the money dwindles. “My doctor said I’ll live a long time, and I told him I can’t afford it,” she says.
Source: Barrons
