6 lessons for women in or near retirement

Kathryn Larson and Elizabeth Marner-Brooks are both women of retirement age. Though the choices they made on the path there are different, they both offer lessons for women who are preparing to retire or have already done so.

Larson, 73, of The Villages, Fla., says she lived below her means for many of her working years. In her mid-40s, the divorced operating-room nurse taught herself about investing. She had no pension, so for the last decade or so that she was employed she maxed out her 401(k) contributions. She hired a financial adviser. She semiretired in 2003 with a nest egg of less than $250,000 but continued to work periodically for a decade. In 2011 she moved to The Villages, a 55-plus community that she finds to be safe, fun, and reasonably priced. "I'm very happy," she says.

Marner-Brooks, who says she's north of 65, was divorced first from a man who earned a lot, then from one who borrowed a lot. The second divorce left Marner-Brooks, who teaches oral communication skills at a college in New York City, broke. For four years she survived on food stamps and lived in temporary quarters. In 2010, the year after she declared bankruptcy, Marner-Brooks landed a job as a census taker and slowly turned her life around. Recently she got a rental apartment in the Bronx, with her son having signed as a guarantor. She is out of debt and beginning to save. Life still isn't easy, but she defends her choice to stay in the pricey Big Apple with its culture and public transportation. "New York is senior-friendly," she says.

What do these tales have to teach to other women? Here's my take:

• Educate yourself about personal finance. Larson learned that relatively early, Marner-Brooks a lot later. Investing basics include saving regularly, diversifying among low-cost index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), rebalancing periodically, and not selling during downturns. Savvy Ladies, a not-for-profit that is based in New York City and helped Marner-Brooks gain control of her debt, is an educational resource to try. Among other programs, it offers women free personal-finance advice from certified financial planners. 

• Learn your Social Security claiming options. As divorced women, both had to figure out how to survive financially on their own. That said, divorced women should understand how they can claim Social Security spousal benefits off an ex's work record. If you were married for 10 years or longer, you're entitled as early as age 62 to spousal benefits based on your ex's work record, even if he hasn't yet claimed. Marner-Brooks discovered that two years after her second divorce, she would be able claim off her first husband's earnings, increasing her monthly check by a couple hundred dollars. Contact your local Social Security office or go to SocialSecurityChoices for articles on various claiming methods.

• Be resourceful. Larson benefited from a career that's in demand, so she could work as needed after her "official" retirement. Not having that option, Marner-Brooks had to figure out how to find other suitable work. Second careers and part-time jobs keep many senior women afloat; for ideas, go to Encore.org and Life Reimagined at AARP. 

The Consumer Reports Retirement Planning Guide offers lots of great advice on making your second act fulfilling and financially secure. 

• Be flexible and realistic. Larson tried different living situations before deciding on an affordable older home in The Villages. Marner-Brooks is loyal to New York City but found lower-cost living in a safe neighborhood outside of Manhattan.

• Count on other women. Larson says her girlfriends are key to her happiness in retirement. Marner-Brooks received financial advice and help from Savvy Ladies, which is run by women. The ability to network and cooperate may in fact be a woman's most valuable skill in retirement, says Eleanor Blayney, consumer advocate for the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards in Washington, D.C. For example, she notes that more and more retired women are organizing shared-housing arrangements. "When we don't have a lot of money, we need to turn to social capital," she says.

• Don't be an enabler. Nothing can mess up retirement plans like losing a big chunk of savings, yet a surprising number of people allow others' needs to sap their resources. Among retirees responding to a 2013 Consumer Reports survey, 14 percent reported providing significant financial support to one or more adult children. "We're the caretaking gender," Blayney says. "But when we take care of ourselves first, we're in a better position to take care of others." 

— Tobie Stanger (@TobieStanger on Twitter)