Author: Vawn Himmelsbach

Janelle from Raleigh, North Carolina, says she “did the ultimate no-no” when she bought a house with someone to whom she wasn’t married. After about a year, they broke up and she moved out.

Now, they’re four months behind in mortgage payments, haven’t been able to sell the house and are facing foreclosure.

She’s also racked up $25,000 in loans and credit card debt. Since she no longer communicates with her ex-fiance, she isn’t sure how to fix her situation, so she called into The Ramsey Show to find out what her options are.

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Both Janelle and her ex are on the mortgage and property deed.

“We’re four months behind,” she told show cohosts, and while they’ve been trying to sell the home and recoup their losses, so far they haven’t had any takers — and they still have $465,000 left on the mortgage.

When the romance is dead — but the mortgage lives on

Now, Janelle says they’re “in the process of asking the mortgage company for a short sale to see if that’s even possible.”

“I don’t see a way out of this unless you guys can find a way to sell it before it forecloses,” cohost George Kamel said.

First, however, they need to get caught up on their mortgage payments and try to avoid foreclosure. While her ex tried to float the mortgage for a few months, he’s now stopped making payments. Janelle also stopped paying her share when she moved out because she’s paying rent elsewhere.

But, when your name is on the mortgage, that reasoning doesn’t fly.

“You are legally obligated to pay that [mortgage],” cohost Ken Coleman said, “whether you’ve moved out or not.”

Janelle brings home about $6,000 a month after taxes, pays about $2,400 in rent and still has money leftover for her “expenses,” which includes putting money aside into her 401(k). She also has about $4,000 in savings.

“We need to pause all of that.” Kamel advised. “You need to act like everything is on fire. And you need to work on getting out of this house mess and paying off your debt.”

They’re about $12,000 in arrears on their mortgage, so they need to “both put some skin in the game” to get caught up on payments. That means giving up any expenses that aren’t necessary — including investments — until they’re out of this hole. It could also mean Janelle getting a second job for a short period of time or her ex getting a temporary roommate until they can get caught up and eventually sell the house.

“That’s going to be your best bet — just trying to sell this thing ASAP even if you have to lower the price,” Kamel said, “instead of going through a short sale or, worst case, that foreclosure.”

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What to consider before you buy a house together

Buying property with someone you’re not married to — whether a partner, friend or family member — can be rewarding but does come with legal and financial risks.

It’s a small, but still significant, percentage of homebuyers, with 9% of recent homebuyers being unmarried couples, according to the National Association of Realtors 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers Report.

Long before you start searching for a home together, you’ll need to decide on a budget and how much each of you will contribute. It’s also a good idea to review each other’s finances, including credit scores. You’ll then have to decide on the ownership structure: joint tenancy (equal property ownership) or tenancy in common (unequal shares).

If you’re unmarried, lenders will assess the credit scores of each buyer. So, if your partner has a low credit score, that could impact your ability to get approved for a mortgage.

On the flip side, if only one partner has their name on the mortgage and title, the other loses out on building equity (and if they split up).

You’ll also need to account for expenses above and beyond the mortgage, such as property taxes, insurance premiums, homeowners associations (HOA) fees, maintenance costs, utility bills and any other household expenses.

While a 50/50 split makes this much easier — where each partner contributes half to the down payment, each pays half of the mortgage each month and they split the utilities and other household expenses — it doesn’t always work out this way. Maybe one partner puts down money for the down payment, or they agree that one will pay the mortgage and the other covers the rest of the bills.

Whatever the case, you’ll want this agreement in writing. A cohabitation or joint homeownership agreement is a legally binding contract (preferably drafted by a legal professional) that details what will happen in the case of a breakup.

This agreement should outline each person’s rights and responsibilities, and what happens if they break up or one partner wants to sell. Otherwise, you’ll have to come up with your own settlement — at a time when tempers could be flaring — or rely on the legal procedures in your state, meaning the court could make that decision for you.

If you end up getting married, then you can update the ownership structure. But if you break up, having a legally binding agreement in place can help avoid a situation like Janelle finds herself in — and she’d understand that she can’t just stop paying the mortgage because she moved out.

“You’re going to need to start communicating — you guys entered quite the partnership here to then just flee the coop,” Kamel said, adding that even if they can’t stand each other, “you’re kind of stuck right now until you guys figure out the next move.”

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Money doesn’t have to be complicated — sign up for the free Moneywise newsletter for actionable finance tips and news you can use. Join now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Joe Subach was just trying to send some money to a friend. But one phone call later, with a woman named ‘Daisy,’ and his financial situation was forever changed.

Subach was the victim of two back-to-back scams — one that even involved him handing over his precious metals to money mules — that drained him of a whopping $1 million.

“I worked 43 hard years for that,” he told NBC10 News Philadelphia.

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It started out with a simple online search for Apple’s customer support number to get help sending money to a friend via Apple Pay. When he called the number, a woman picked up and said her name was Daisy, from Apple.

What he didn’t realize until later — when it was too late — is that he called a phony number and Daisy was a fraudster.

How the back-to-back scams worked

In this case, Subach was the victim of a double fraud, starting with a customer service scam and then progressing into a romance scam.

When he first called the number, he says ‘Daisy’ told him that his account had been hacked and his identity had been compromised. She then told him he needed to buy gift cards, scratch off the backs and send her the numbers, which was part of the process to protect his money.

But the scam didn’t end there. Daisy told Subach that they’d have to monitor his phone 24/7.

“And so, her number was scrolling at the top of my phone the whole time,” he told NBC10.

Over the next few months, the customer service scam evolved into a romance scam where the two would text every day — even cooking meals at the same time and sharing photos of their food.

After earning his trust, ‘Daisy’ took the scam one step further by offering to protect all of his assets.

“I told her I have gold and silver with Equity Trust Company,” Subach told NBC10. ‘Daisy’ then told him to take all of his gold and silver out of his depository and she’d have someone come to his house and pick it up. Subach said he loaded his own gold and silver — valued at $780,000 — into the back of the vehicle.

The person driving the vehicle was likely a money mule, a person who is recruited to transfer stolen or illicit funds (or, in this case, precious metals).

“We look at the money mule dynamic in two different buckets,” Nicole Senegar, the FBI assistant special agent in charge in Philadelphia, told NBC10, explaining that sometimes they are in on the scam, taking a cut, but in other cases they can be unwitting victims.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office, “Fraudsters rely on money mules to facilitate a range of fraud schemes, including those that predominantly impact older Americans, such as lottery fraud, romance scams and grandparent scams.”

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How to protect yourself

To avoid being scammed by a fraudster like ‘Daisy’ and handing over your hard-earned cash to a money mule, be aware of red flags.

For starters, keep on the lookout for fake or lookalike websites, warns the Better Business Bureau, and fake customer service support numbers. If the domain name of a website has a minor error (say, two letters are swapped), then it could be a fake. And, never click on links or call phone numbers in unsolicited emails or text messages.

A classic warning sign is if someone asks you “to wire them money, send cryptocurrency, send money by courier, send money over a payment app, or put money on a prepaid card or gift card and send it to them or give them the numbers on the card,” according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

So, for example, if you call a customer support number and the person on the other end of the line asks you to send numbers on gift cards, that’s an immediate red flag. If something seems off, hang up and check that you’re going to the actual company’s website. You can also try using a website checker, such as Google’s Safe Browsing tool. And, never hand over cash or precious metals to a stranger.

But you also want to avoid becoming a money mule as part of a larger scam. According to the FBI, criminals approach people looking for work or romance and try to turn them into mules.

“Criminals recruit money mules to help launder proceeds derived from online scams and frauds or crimes like human trafficking and drug trafficking. Money mules add layers of distance between crime victims and criminals, which makes it harder for law enforcement to accurately trace money trails,” says the FBI.

Don’t accept jobs that require you to use your own bank account to transfer money, a legitimate company wouldn’t ask you to do this, the FBI warns, adding that people should also “be suspicious if an individual you met on a dating website wants to use your bank account for receiving and forwarding money.”

Another warning sign, says the FBI, is if you’re asked to “process” or “transfer” funds through a wire transfer, automated clearing house or money service business — and, for your efforts, you can keep a portion of the money you transfer.

If caught, you could face federal charges such as mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. And, that’s the case even if you aren’t aware you’re committing a crime.

As for Subach, he realized he’d been scammed after his money was gone — and so was Daisy. So far, no arrests have been made.

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Money doesn’t have to be complicated — sign up for the free Moneywise newsletter for actionable finance tips and news you can use. Join now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Selling your home can be cause for celebration — unless, of course, you never actually listed it.

This is the situation a Chicago man recently found himself in, after discovering a property he owned was listed for sale without his knowledge or consent.

Frank Diaz had purchased an abandoned fixer-upper on Chicago’s West Side with the intention of flipping it. His plan was to turn the workers cottage into a three-unit building, according to CBS News Chicago.

“That’s what I do. I fix them up and then rent or sell them,” Diaz told the news outlet. But that plan was nearly derailed when he discovered someone else had put the property up for sale — without his knowledge or permission.

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How a mystery realtor listed the home without the owner’s consent

In late May, Diaz discovered that his property was listed for sale, complete with marketing videos, on a real estate broker’s social media page and on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a property listing and information portal for licensed real estate professionals.

The house was advertised as an off-market, all-cash deal for $200,000. Licensed realtor Anthony Kirkland with Coldwell Banker was listed as the agent on the property.

“I have never met him before,” Diaz told CBS News Chicago. Yet, some of the social media videos were taken inside the house, leading Diaz to conclude that whoever filmed those videos had been trespassing.

The locks had also been changed and a realtor’s lockbox was attached to the door.

Kirkland told CBS News Chicago that “somebody was posing as the owner” and that he removed the listing once made aware. However, despite being the agent who posted the property, he declined to say who had initially claimed to be the owner or who had given him the go-ahead to list it.

Diaz has since filed an ethics complaint with the Chicago Association of Realtors. “You do your job as a realtor and you reach out,” Diaz told CBS News Chicago, “and if they would have done enough digging, they would have known my number, and they would have called me if I wanted to sell the property.”

In a statement to CBS News Chicago, the association said that when a complaint is lodged, “it triggers a formal due process that includes a hearing” that can result in a fine, suspension, expulsion in membership and possibly referral to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

“I would like to know what happened,” Diaz said. “Someone had listed my property without my consent.”

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Title theft is a growing problem

Diaz isn’t the only victim of this type of crime. Earlier this year the Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a statement warning property owners and real estate agents about an increasing number of “quitclaim deed fraud” incidents, which is also known as home title theft.

The perpetrators forge documents to record a fake transfer of property ownership. They can then sell or rent the property, “forcing the real owners to head to court to reclaim their property.”

“Deed fraud often involves identity theft where criminals will use personal information gleaned from the internet or elsewhere to assume your identity or claim to represent you to steal your property,” according to FBI Boston.

But deed fraud takes many forms. For example, fraudsters can search public records to find vacant land or properties without mortgages or liens and then ask a real estate agent to list them. Or, an elderly homeowner could be targeted by family members and manipulated into transferring over the property into their name.

While the FBI doesn’t keep statistics specifically related to quitclaim deed fraud, there were 58,141 reported victims of real estate fraud in the U.S. between 2019 and 2023, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) — adding up to a whopping $1.3 billion in losses.

So, if you own a vacant property, you’ll want to know how to protect yourself.

Protect yourself from quitclaim deed fraud

The only way to truly protect yourself is with a homeowner’s policy of title insurance, David Fleck, a real estate fraud attorney, told Realtor.com.

This is different from an owners policy of title insurance because it helps protect you against fraud after the purchase of the property, whereas traditional title insurance only protects you prior to the purchase.

“All title insurance companies, all the big ones, now offer it,” Fleck told Realtor.com.

To reduce your risk, the FBI recommends the following:

• Set up title alerts with your county clerk’s office, if available
• Create Google Alerts or other online monitoring for your name or property address
• Watch for red flags like missing utility or tax bills, or sudden usage spikes at a vacant property
• Avoid remote closings when selling or buying property and verify identity in person
• Ask for proof of ownership, such as recent utility bills or tax statements, before working with a new seller

It may seem far-fetched that a complete stranger could sell your property without your knowledge or permission, but it happens — and being aware that this type of crime exists is the first step in protecting yourself.

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• How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you’ll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement

Money doesn’t have to be complicated — sign up for the free Moneywise newsletter for actionable finance tips and news you can use. Join now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Online shopping is here to stay — and it seems so are porch pirates.

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A 2024 Security.org survey revealed that porch pirates — people who steal packages from your porch or yard — stole goods valued at $12 billion in a single year, affecting as many as 58 million Americans. It found that one in four Americans have been victimized by porch pirates at some point in their lives.

Safety and security research group SafeWise estimated $16 billion was lost to package theft in the U.S. in 2023.

While there are deterrents on the market, and SafeWise said it looks like package theft is leveling out at 120.5 million packages snatched in the year, it remains a major problem. A North Texas inventor was inspired to come up with what he calls a “video smart package pillar.”

“If somebody takes anything from your porch, then they may not go to jail because it’s a misdemeanor,” Richard Prince II told Fox 4. “But if somebody touches a mailbox … they automatically know it’s a federal offense, so it’s federally protected.”

How a smart mailbox works

Prince II’s anti-theft mailbox looks like a traditional brick mailbox with a slot, but it opens on the top allowing for larger packages to be dropped inside to the bottom. The owner has a key to open the back and retrieve packages from inside the mailbox.

Prince II explained why he believes his mailbox is a better option for packages. “You don’t really see a lot of people actually going in people’s mailboxes. You see them going on their porches,” he said.

It took eight years for Prince II to get a patent and he’s currently looking for investors to get his idea from a prototype in his garage to front yards across North Texas and beyond.

However, he wouldn’t be the only one peddling this type of product. A number of companies, including Hyve, Keter, Loxx Noxx and Yale, are now offering advanced delivery boxes for secure package delivery — and some even connect to Bluetooth or apps.

While this could be an ideal solution for homeowners, it won’t work for everyone, including those who live in apartments where packages are left in the lobby or in front of their hallway door.

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What we know about ‘porch pirates’

“Porch pirates have clear favorites when it comes to packages, with Amazon deliveries topping the list at 33% of reported thefts,” according to SafeWise. “We speculate that this could be due to people ordering more deliveries from Amazon, making those packages more ubiquitous overall.”

USPS packages account for another 18% of stolen items, followed by FedEx (17%) and UPS (16%). Grocery deliveries and meal kits like HelloFresh make up 7% and 4% of theft, respectively.

However, it also found that — across the country — one in four people don’t do anything to deter porch pirates “despite more than half of all Americans worrying that they’ll have a package stolen.” That changes, however, once they’ve had a package snatched, with more than eight in 10 victims adding a deterrent.

While this is an issue across the country, Security.org found that Kentucky, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Alaska have the highest rates of recent package thefts. But it wasn’t necessarily correlated with high-crime areas.

“Package theft tends to be a crime of opportunity rather than a reflection of localized lawlessness. Where parcels are numerous, unguarded, or exposed, incidents of piracy are likely to be higher regardless of overall crime rates,” according to Security.org.

And that “underscores the need for parcel precautions” even in areas that are considered relatively safe.

How to protect yourself

Research specialist Dr. Ben Stickle told SafeWise that a home is more likely to be targeted if it has a porch less than 25 feet from the street and packages are visible from the road.

A common deterrent is a security camera or video doorbell, which can at least help to identify the culprit if a theft occurs — though it may not prevent theft from occurring in the first place (especially if the thief hides their face). However, cameras and doorbells are getting smarter and could include motion sensors, alarms and even two-way audio.

You can also track packages on an app so you know exactly when they’re being delivered. Or, you could request a signature upon delivery — an old-school, but effective, measure — which means the package can’t be left on your doorstep.

If packages are frequently delivered when you’re not home, telling delivery drivers to place them in a spot not visible from the street or having a smart mailbox could be an effective solution, or you could also consider using a secure pick-up location, offered by major retailers and even delivery services. These pick-up locations could include lockers or even local post offices.

When it comes to certain critical or expensive items, like prescription drugs or electronics, it may simply make more sense to pick them up in person rather than risk being the target of porch pirates.

You can also check if the retailer or shipper provides protection against theft (such as replacement or reimbursement) or if your credit card offers purchase protection.

Since apartment dwellers experience package theft at double the rate of those who live in homes, according to Security.org, it advises specifying “that packages should be left with door attendants or in protected mailrooms rather than entryways or sidewalks.”

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• How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you’ll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement

Money doesn’t have to be complicated — sign up for the free Moneywise newsletter for actionable finance tips and news you can use. Join now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Janelle and her husband, both 68, recently retired and are ready to make the most of their golden years.

They own a condo, which originally they thought would be ideal for retirement. But now, with an active lifestyle — and more time spent babysitting their grandkids — they’re wondering if it actually makes sense to upsize during retirement.

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Janelle spent most of her career commuting to an office, while her husband spent long stretches on the road for work. Now that they’re retired, they want to enjoy their home.

Janelle, who recently took up watercolors, wants a space to herself where she can paint — preferably a sunroom overlooking a garden. Her husband wants a ‘man cave’ where he can watch football and Formula One.

Three out of four Americans aged 50-plus want to age in place, according to AARP’s national 2024 Home and Community Preferences Survey.

For many, that means downsizing.

“Nearly half (44%) of adults aged 50-plus expect to relocate, with housing costs being a primary motivator, including rising costs of rent or mortgage (71%), property maintenance (60%) and taxes (55%),” according to the survey.

But could it make sense for some retired couples? Here’s what Janelle and her husband might want to consider before making a move.

The benefits of upsizing

Upsizing can enhance quality of life, providing more space for family visits or home-based hobbies as many retirees are “realizing their dreams” of spending more time with family and friends (58%) and pursuing hobbies (43%), according to 2024’s Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey.

It allows for flexibility along the continuum of life. It could make sense for multigenerational households — say, if you’re regularly babysitting your grandchildren, as 19% of the Transamerica survey respondents are — or if your adult children help out with caregiving duties.

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It could provide space for a live-in caregiver, or serve as an extra source of income if you rent out a room, basement apartment or garden suite.

The downsides of upsizing

Moving is costly — from selling your home and buying a new one to moving costs themselves, which can range from $1,200 to $29,000, depending on how much stuff you’re moving, how far you’re moving and if you want professional movers to do the heavy lifting.

You may not net as much from your sale as you hope, meaning you may have to dip into your retirement savings or borrow money to get a bigger home.

Currently, it’s a buyers’ market, with 34% more sellers than buyers in the market, according to Redfin. As a result, it expects home prices to drop 1% by year’s end.

Meanwhile, the average 30-year mortgage rate is sitting at over 6.8%, according to data from Freddie Mac.

“High home prices and mortgage rates are scaring buyers off,” according to Redfin, while “tariff talks, layoffs and federal policy changes are among the other factors dampening homebuyer demand.”

Even if you buy a big home in a more affordable area, larger homes come with higher utility bills, maintenance and insurance costs.

If you need to hire someone for maintenance and repairs — such as regularly mowing the lawn — you’ll need to account for that in your retirement budget.

While it may be unpleasant to think about, if one spouse dies sooner than expected, or if the grandkids don’t visit as often as you counted on, then a big, empty house could also end up feeling rather lonely.

Key questions to consider before upsizing

Before upsizing, Janelle and her husband may want to answer some key questions:

• Are there other expenses we need to budget for, such as more furniture to fill a larger home?
• Can we afford this while still preserving a financial cushion for emergencies and health care?
• Are we prepared for the extra work (such as maintenance) that comes with a larger home?
• Will we still want or be able to live in a bigger space in 10 to 15 years?
• Is this larger home suitable to an aging-in-place lifestyle (e.g., are there too many stairs)?
• How will this move affect our estate plan and heirs?

Working with a financial advisor to run the numbers can help couples like Janelle and her husband determine whether upsizing would be the right move for their retirement years.

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• How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you’ll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement

Money doesn’t have to be complicated — sign up for the free Moneywise newsletter for actionable finance tips and news you can use. Join now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Jamie, 59, is inching closer to retirement, but after going through a nasty divorce, his emergency fund and savings have been wiped out. He still has a 401(k), a pension and some investments, but his divorce will impact the value of those assets.

Without additional savings to supplement those assets — which will be divided up with his ex — he’s worried he’ll have to delay retirement or do some serious downsizing.

This is a challenge facing many Americans. The current divorce rate nationwide is 42% for first marriages, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). But gray divorce, where couples over the age of 50 decide to part ways, is becoming increasingly common.

Back in 1990, only 8.7% of divorces in the U.S. were gray divorces. By 2019, that number had ballooned to 36%, according to a study published in the Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences. And that has some serious impacts on their financial stability as they head into their golden years.

If you’re in a situation like Jamie, here are three crucial things to do right now to help cobble together a comfortable nest egg.

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• Robert Kiyosaki warns of a ‘Greater Depression’ coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 ‘easy-money’ assets will bring in ‘great wealth’. How to get in now

1. Calculate a new retirement number

You can’t plan a roadmap if you don’t know where you’re going. Since Jamie had a retirement plan with his ex-wife, he now has to create a new one for himself.

That means he’ll need to calculate a new ‘retirement number’ — the target amount you need to live the life you want in retirement. A rule of thumb is to save 10 to 12 times your final salary.

That number should take into account the age at which he wants to retire, his annual salary, his expenses and savings, as well as investment portfolio performance. It should also take into account the standard of living he wants to maintain in retirement.

Depending on his final retirement number, he may have to make a few adjustments, such as working a few years longer than he planned or perhaps downsizing his standard of living. He may even change his retirement plans altogether, like working part-time at a side hustle or moving out of the country.

While the divorce wiped him out, Jamie still has some retirement income. Since he qualifies for Social Security, he can use this to supplement any savings he manages to cobble together before he retires.

At 59, the earliest he could claim his Social Security retirement benefit is three years from now, at age 62. But at that point he’d get a permanent reduction of his benefit by 30%.

If he waits to claim his benefit until his full retirement age (FRA) at age 67, he’d receive 100% of his benefit. If he’s able to delay his benefit past his FRA, he’d get a permanent bump of 8% for each year he delays up until age 70.

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2. Understand the rules of dividing retirement assets

While his savings may be depleted, Jamie still has a pension, 401(k) and individual retirement account (IRA). It’s important to review your existing retirement accounts and understand how divorce will impact the division of those assets.

This can be made more complicated because the rules on dividing pensions and assets vary from state to state, so it’s a good idea to consult a divorce lawyer and financial advisor.

During a divorce, traditional pension plans and employer-sponsored retirement plans such as 401(k)s can be divided through a court order called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), used specifically for this purpose.

Funds that you’ve contributed during the course of your marriage to a traditional pension or 401(k) are typically considered marital property. Unless you have a prenuptial agreement, each spouse would be entitled to a portion of those funds.

When it comes to IRAs, whether traditional or Roth, dividing those assets would follow your state’s community property rules. Basically, if the IRA was opened while you were married, it would be considered marital property.

If the IRA was opened prior to the marriage, then the contributions made during the course of the marriage would be considered marital property.

Under normal circumstances, IRAs can’t be transferred or gifted to a new owner, but divorce is an exception. IRAs can be divvied up between spouses tax-free via a direct transfer to a new IRA, but if this isn’t done properly, you could end up paying taxes and penalties.

3. Develop a new retirement savings strategy

Once you have a new retirement number in mind and understand how much you’ll have left over after divvying up your retirement assets, you can come up with a new retirement savings strategy. This should also factor in at what age you plan to claim your Social Security retirement benefit.

For someone in their late 50s, it’s harder to catch up — you won’t benefit from the power of compounding — but it’s not impossible to cobble together some savings.

Jamie may need to cut back and live on less so he can direct as much as he can into savings. He may want to start by building up an emergency fund (to cover about three to six months of expenses) and paying down any high-interest debt. From there, he can start rebuilding his retirement savings.

That includes maxing out his 401(k), especially if his employer matches his contributions. Plus, since he’s 50+, he qualifies to make catch-up contributions.

The maximum contribution limit for a 401(k) in 2025 is $23,500, with an allowable $7,500 catch-up contribution for those 50+ (so Jamie could contribute a total of $31,000). Those between the ages of 60 to 63 can make a catch-up contribution of $11,250.

Those aged 50+ can also make a $1,000 catch-up contribution to their IRA, on top of the $7,000 annual contribution limit, for a total of $8,000. It’s worth having a chat with a financial advisor or tax specialist to understand whether a traditional or Roth IRA makes sense for your situation — both offer different types of tax advantages, depending on your income level.

Jamie may also want to work with his financial advisor to explore his investment options and optimize his portfolio to meet his new goals. While his marriage may be over, it doesn’t mean his retirement dreams have to be.

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Money doesn’t have to be complicated — sign up for the free Moneywise newsletter for actionable finance tips and news you can use. Join now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Divorce isn’t just a young person’s game. For some, love is fleeting and can evaporate quickly. In other cases, it’s a bond that can last for decades until it’s worn down or suddenly broken.

Kathryn, 57, finds herself single after nearly 30 years of marriage. Her ex was the breadwinner of the household, and she only has about $18,000 saved for her retirement.

Since she’s about 10 years from retiring, she’s wondering if she still has time to catch up. Will she have to delay her retirement — or even forgo it altogether?

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What is gray divorce?

Kathryn’s situation is far from unique. Gray divorce, sometimes referred to as silver divorce, refers to couples over 50 choosing to get a divorce — often after a long marriage, and often after their kids have grown up and left the nest.

Gray divorce rates in the U.S. have risen over time. A 2022 study found that gray divorces increased moderately between 1970 and 1990 before doubling by 2010. Rates then stagnated for those aged 50-64, but continued to grow for the 65-plus crowd. In 2019, 36% of people getting divorced were aged 50 and up.

So, what’s behind this trend?

For one thing, it’s more socially acceptable these days to get a divorce than it was back in the 1970s. At the same time, people are living longer. In 1970, life expectancy in the U.S. was 70.8 years, while presently it’s 78.4 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..

Couples sometimes stay together for the kids, so once they’re empty nesters they decide to part ways. Or maybe they’ve just been growing apart for years and their interests have changed as they’ve grown older.

Retirement itself could be a trigger if their financial goals aren’t in sync. But gray divorce can also have a major financial impact on a couple’s golden years, especially if one partner was the runaway breadwinner.

How to rebuild a nest egg after gray divorce

Divorce can take a financial toll, and those close to retirement age — or already retired — have less time to rebuild their depleted funds.

Rebuilding isn’t easy, but it’s possible. Kathryn has $18,000 in her own retirement account, but she should also consider other sources of potential retirement income. For example, part of her divorce agreement may include access to a portion of her ex’s retirement plans.

A qualified domestic relations order, or QDRO, is “a judgment, decree or order for a retirement plan to pay child support, alimony or marital property rights to a spouse, former spouse, child or other dependent of a participant,” according to the Internal Revenue Service. A spouse or former spouse can roll over tax-free “all or part of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan that he or she received under a QDRO.”

Kathryn may be eligible for alimony or spousal maintenance, though the amount and duration will vary depending on state laws.

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She’ll also want to look into Social Security. If you’re divorced, you either get benefits based on your work record or your ex’s work record, whichever is higher — so long as you were married for more than 10 years before the divorce and haven’t remarried.

Kathryn doesn’t have to wait until her ex claims his benefit to start receiving hers. But if she claims it before reaching her full retirement age (at age 67), she’ll receive a permanently reduced benefit like anyone else.

A decade isn’t a lot of time, but it’s still possible for Kathryn to build up her nest egg by cutting back on spending while increasing her savings rate — though that could require some sacrifices.

Kathryn will first want to make sure she’s not leaving any money on the table in the form of shared retirement assets. From there, she can come up with a new retirement plan and project how much extra she’ll need to meet her goals.

She’ll also want to build an emergency fund (to cover at least three to six months’ worth of expenses) and pay off any high-interest debt as quickly as possible.

To increase her savings rate, she may want to consider taking on extra hours at work or supplementing her income with gig work. But she may also want to rethink her retirement plans, such as delaying retirement, working part-time in retirement or reducing her living expenses by downsizing or moving to a cheaper city or state.

It could be worth consulting a financial advisor to model various scenarios and come up with a post-divorce budget and new retirement plan.

What to read next

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• How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you’ll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement

Money doesn’t have to be complicated — sign up for the free Moneywise newsletter for actionable finance tips and news you can use. Join now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Would you choose to live in a prison? You might — if it had been converted into a community of well-designed apartments with a club house, swimming pool, green spaces, restaurants, retail shops and even a preschool.

That’s exactly what was done to an old prison in Lorton, Virginia.

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“We really felt that we were liberating these buildings from its dark past, and for that reason we thought Liberty was a good name for the project,” David Vos, a development project manager with real estate developer The Alexander Company, told CNBC Make It.

From abandoned prison to designer apartments

The Lorton Reformatory prison complex, originally commissioned by Theodore Roosevelt, was built in 1910 and shuttered in 2001. In 2002, Fairfax County bought the 2,324-acre campus for $4.2 million.

In 2008, The Alexander Company — which specializes in urban infill development and historic preservation — partnered with the county and Elm Street Development to help convert the campus, with renovations taking place from 2015 to 2017.

The company spent $64 million converting 207,000 square feet into the Liberty Crest Apartments. Rent for the 165 apartments ranges from $1,372 and $2,700 per month. For comparison, the average rent for all property types in Virginia is $1,700 per month.

Forty-four of the units are set aside for people earning 50% of the median household income of $136,719 for Lorton, according to CNBC Make It. These units were fully leased within a couple of months and have been at full occupancy since.

The Lorton Reformatory was a Progressive Era prison, so it’s architecturally interesting and laid out well for apartments, with plenty of windows providing lots of natural light and ventilation.

The original dining room has been turned into a club house with a pool table and shuffleboard table, while the prison ball field has been converted to a central green for residents. There’s also a fitness center, yoga room, swimming pool and two playground areas, along with retail shops and restaurants.

Plus, there’s still room for development. A few penitentiary buildings on the complex are slated to become commercial spaces and the power plant is being converted into 10 additional apartments.

The developers, believing we can learn from our past, have kept some signage from the original prison intact as a reminder of what the buildings once were.

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The economic and environmental promise of adaptive reuse

The Liberty Crest Apartments are a prime example of adaptive reuse — when existing assets in a built area are repurposed for new uses. This can be an environmentally friendly way to develop needed spaces such as affordable housing.

According to The World Economic Forum (WEF), “cities are turning to adaptive reuse as a powerful strategy to reduce waste, cut emissions and enhance circular economy principles in the built environment.”

Repurposing an existing building emits 50% to 75% less carbon than building new, according to WEF, and the process itself can be efficient — up to 90% of materials can be salvaged and diverted from landfills when buildings are repurposed rather than demolished. By saving the expense of demolition and new construction, repurposing can result in cost savings of 12% to 15%.

Communities also benefit from adaptive reuse because it helps to preserve culture and architecture while creating unique, distinctive spaces to work and live. It can also be a catalyst for urban renewal and innovation.

For example, where the Lorton prison complex was once an empty, decaying structure, there’s now attractive architecture, affordable housing and community spaces.

Adaptive reuse projects can also boost property values in the surrounding community through neighborhood revitalization. Jobs are created during the project and, longer term, for ongoing maintenance and administration of the new facility — as well as through any commercial spaces that may be part of the development.

However, it often means overcoming community and regulatory hurdles. In the case of Lorton Reformatory, investors initially expressed concern that the development was in a metro area without mass transit and that mixed-income housing might turn off prospective developers. Eventually, an investor did see the potential — and the result is Liberty Crest Apartments.

Despite these types of hurdles, adaptive reuse projects represent a huge opportunity for developers and communities alike. CNBC Make It reports that 188 prison facilities were shut down in the U.S. between 2000 and 2022, and in at least nine states conversions of these facilities are either underway or have been completed.

After all, why would communities and developers want to keep that much potential locked up?

What to read next

• Financial aid only funds about 27% of US college expenses — but savvy parents are using this 3-minute move to cover 100% of those costs
• Here are the 6 levels of wealth for retirement-age Americans — are you near the top or bottom of the pyramid?
• Here are 5 ‘must have’ items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you?
• How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you’ll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement

Money doesn’t have to be complicated — sign up for the free Moneywise newsletter for actionable finance tips and news you can use. Join now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.