When Margye Solomon decided to end her 33-year marriage last year, she knew her finances would take a big hit.

“I didn’t have enough money to retire before I got divorced, and I have less now,” said Solomon, who, at 71, still works full time as head of social enterprise and nonprofit partnerships at Ellevate, a global women’s network.

Dividing assets evenly with her ex, a retired lawyer, left her with half as much in savings — but, she said, “my happiness was worth more to me than the money.”

The 18 months since the split have been an exercise in frugality as Solomon rebuilds. To cut expenses, she moved from Nutley, New Jersey, to lower-cost Nashville, Tennessee, where she rents a small apartment in a friend’s home, bought a used Nissan to get around and watches her spending.

“When you divorce at this age, you can’t be afraid to change your lifestyle,” Solomon said. “In what could be a 100-year life, I figure I have 20 to 30 years left, and I want to make the most of them.”

While U.S. divorce rates have generally been falling, they have doubled for people over age 50 since the 1990s and tripled among those over 65, according to a 2022 study from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

These couples may be happier after a divorce, but they have a lot to lose financially. Women can be hit especially hard: Wives who divorce after 50 see a 45% decline on average in their standard of living, versus a 21% drop for husbands of the same age.

If you’re divorcing after 50, these moves can help:

A new reality

Reaching a fair settlement lays the groundwork for financial recovery after a later-in-life divorce. For that, you first need a handle on the income, assets and household expenses you’re working with — an exercise that can be challenging, particularly if one partner solely managed the finances.

“It can feel like the numbers are judging you,” said Stephanie McCullough, a certified financial planner in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. “But it’s to both parties’ benefit to be as complete as possible, to see what will be realistic.”

For Nancy Howell, 60, a former elementary school teacher who left money management mostly to her husband during their 37-year marriage, this financial fact-finding exercise felt like “a gut punch,” she said, as she learned that her name wasn’t on the mortgage and some other accounts.

Howell, who divorced last year, kept her five-bedroom home in Tempe, Arizona, and got spousal support to help maintain it. But once her former husband retires this month and the support payments stop, Howell, who works part time as a substitute and after-school teacher, will have to tap into her retirement savings to afford the upkeep on the house.

“In retrospect, keeping the house was a really bad call, given that it’s just me and the dog now,” said Howell, who has three adult children. “I would have more financial flexibility and confidence if I downsized.”

Focus on cash flow

One spouse keeping the house is common, experts said. But it’s often a financial mistake, especially if the children are grown.

That’s because you typically have to trade a portion of retirement savings to buy out the other spouse at a time when you’re close to winding down a career or may already have retired, said Lili Vasileff, a certified divorce financial analyst in Greenwich, Connecticut. The most pressing financial need after a split is typically cash flow, so tying up funds in an illiquid asset isn’t helpful.

“I ask clients, ‘If the house will eat up 70% of your income, are you willing to sacrifice 70% of everything else in your budget to keep it?’” Vasileff said.

Where you live plays a critical role in how retirement plans. In the country’s nine community property states — including California — retirement assets acquired during the marriage will be split evenly.

Aim to be amicable

You’re not obligated to follow the state guidelines. Everything is negotiable.

You can also negotiate matters that aren’t covered by state law, such as compensating a lower-earning partner for the loss of future Social Security benefits or health insurance. By federal law, a divorced spouse is typically entitled to up to half of her former partner’s benefit at full retirement, as long as they were married for at least 10 consecutive years; half of his benefit would be greater than what she would qualify for on her own; and she has not remarried. But that’s far less than what she would have access to if she were still married: her spouse’s full benefit, as well as her own.

“That’s a real whammy for women, who are more often the lower-earning spouse,” said Nancy Hetrick, a certified divorce financial analyst in Phoenix.

You can seek a larger share of a retirement account or other assets to help offset the impact of reduced Social Security benefits. But that strategy has the best chance of success, Hetrick said, if you opt for a mediated or collaborative divorce.

Rethink lifestyle

To manage the financial hit of a later-in-life divorce, you basically have two choices, Hetrick said: “Redo your retirement plans considerably and scale back on some things you thought you’d do, or figure out how to make more money — or both.”

If you have a job, you can make up ground by postponing your retirement.

“Working even for a couple of years more can make miracles happen financially,” Chen said.

Already retired? Ageism or health issues may preclude a return to work full time, but even a part-time gig can help.