When it comes to retirement plans, many couples aren't on the same page. Just 43% of married couples agree on what retirement looks like for them. Unfortunately, this is a big problem, as close to half of all married Americans feel financially dependent on their spouses.
If you need your spouse's financial contributions to live out your dreams for your later years, but you don't agree on what preparing for retirement looks like, this can create conflict. That's especially true if one spouse feels like the other may be putting their plans at risk.
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Let's pretend, for example, that Amanda is worried her husband Jake is not taking his job seriously enough. Jake was already fired two years ago, and while he found a new work-from-home job, she sees him slacking off and spending time doing personal errands during working hours.
Jake is three years away from retirement, but Amanda believes that he needs to keep working until then for the couple to be secure. Unfortunately, Amanda's afraid he'll end up getting fired early, not be able to find a new job and put the couple's future at risk. She wants to know how she can protect herself if this outcome becomes a reality.
Understand the impact if Jake gets fired
The first thing Amanda needs to do is to take stock of exactly what would happen if her fears come true.
"Before you do anything defensive, define how big an impact two or three more working years actually has on your retirement lifestyle," David Talley, CFP and founder of Talley Wealth, told Moneywise.
"Two or three years may change the budget you'd live off of in retirement for sure, but it's often much smaller than what the average person would assume. It's almost a universal thing that when we walk through the real math, people say, 'wow, I don't actually gain all that much by working two more years.'"
If Amanda and Jake sit down with a professional and find out that Jake getting fired wouldn't meaningfully change their retirement prospects, that could take some weight off Amanda's shoulders.
"In just a few minutes of calculation guided by a professional who knows what they're talking about, a couple that's bitter at each other can all of a sudden feel like they're on the same page," Talley said. "They're happy, and maybe it becomes, okay, I'll stick it out for one more year, and then I'm going to retire, instead of you freaking out for the next three years and resenting me."
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