Thanks for writing. Your suggestion is a good one. I can provide a few suggestions here, but I think this topic is important enough that it deserves to be its own story and I’ll make sure we get into the story rotation as soon as possible.

First, I completely agree with your contention that older single women have much less financial knowledge (many surveys have shown this to be true). If you’ve reached the age of 50 and you don’t know what you own and what you owe off the top of the bat, you should sit down with your husband and ask for a total accounting of your family’s financial stock.

Ideally, this would include bank accounts, retirement accounts, other investment accounts, all assets (with current or estimated valuations), liabilities (debts) and anything else that has value. You’re trying to get a sense of your net worth.

You and your husband should do a monthly or semi-monthly check-in on your finances, where you look at actual bank accounts and understand how money gets spent in your family. Better yet – all women should have online access to all accounts so you can see where the money is at all times.

Make sure your name is on some of the bills and accounts so that you develop credit in your own name. My name has been on the telephone accounts for years. I have credit cards in my own name as well as accounts in my husband’s name.

Understand where your future retirement income is coming from: How much will you get from Social Security. Do you have a pension? Does your spouse? How much does it cost you to live now and how much will it cost in the future? Is there any other income to include? These are key questions to ask as soon as possible, but particularly if you’re on the cusp of retiring.

Where is the paperwork? You’ll want to know where your wills are (you need one, too), powers of attorney for health care and financial matters, living will and other estate paperwork. If you don’t have a will, living will, and powers of attorney for health care and financial matters, get on it. You’ll need that sooner rather than later.

As I said, there’s more to talk about. But these points are a great start. Thanks for your comment.