Arlene Cheston met her husband when they were both in the Peace Corps in Colombia and they were happily married for nearly 30 years



Arlene Cheston met her husband when they were both in the Peace Corps in Colombia and they were happily married for nearly 30 years

Newly Single Women Can Face Money Woes

Certain Widows, Divorcees Said Not to Understand the Financial Side of Marriage

Caption: After her husband's death, Arlene Cheston realized how much she didn't understand about personal investments. (ABC News)

April 16, 2005 — Arlene Cheston met her husband when they were both in the Peace Corps. They were happily married for nearly 30 years, during which she primarily took care of her two children and their home.

Though Cheston, 62, paid household bills, she had never invested a penny or thought twice about her financial security. Her husband always took care of those things. So when he died of cancer unexpectedly, Cheston had to struggle with financial concerns along with all the emotional grief.

"I didn't understand investments," Cheston said. "I didn't understand what it would require in the long run in order to retire some day."

'Prevalent Problem'

Cheston's plight is not unusual. Seven out of 10 baby boomer wives are expected to outlive their husbands, according to the U.S. Administration on Aging. Although women have taken great strides in the financial world, many still leave it up to their husbands to take care of their family investments.

"I see a lot of widows in my office," said Alexandra Armstrong, a financial planner in Washington, D.C., and co-author of the book, "On Your Own: A Widow's Passage to Emotional & Financial Well-Being." "They come in [and] they're emotionally upset. But they're really upset they don't understand the financial side. It's a very prevalent problem.

"The problem is that often women are not involved in finances, whether they work or don't work, and they delegate it to their husbands," Armstrong added. "And then their husband dies, suddenly or not so suddenly. They are completely at a loss, because they don't know anything about their investments. They don't know where their financial papers are, and they don't know where to start."

This can have serious repercussions. According to a study by the National Center for Women and Retirement Research, nearly 80 percent of widows who now live in poverty weren't considered poor when their husbands were alive.

Divorcées Often Struggle

It's an issue for women who get divorced too. Mary Beth McNally was overwhelmed when she and her husband separated.

"I was afraid," McNally said. "I really didn't know how much money we had. So I was really fearful about what my future was going to be, because I spent a lot of time in the marriage raising my children."

A stay-at-home mom for nearly 20 years, McNally was forced back into the workplace to generate an income and gain health insurance.

Both Cheston and McNally sold their homes in order to help make ends meet more comfortably. Financial planners say they could have possibly avoided that if they had thought ahead and created budgets and investment plans.

Cheston is not ignorant about finances anymore, having dutifully studied up. And she feels optimistic about her golden years for the first time in a while.

Now Cheston advises younger women to not make the same mistakes she made.

"The grieving process, or the loss itself, affects absolutely every cell of your body, " she tells them. "And if you at least have one piece of that under control, and you know the financial picture, and you know what needs to be done financially, and you've been a part of those decisions, and you can simply carry on without having to feel that you are starting something totally from scratch, then … it would ease the pressure."

When this story was posted in April 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:


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RPCVs and Friends remember Pope John Paul II Tony Hall found the pope to be courageous and capable of forgiving the man who shot him in 1981, Mark Gearan said the pope was as dynamic in person as he appears on television, Maria Shriver said he was a beacon of virtue, strength and goodness, and an RPCV who met the pope while serving in the Solomon Islands said he possessed the holiness of a man filled with a deep love and concern for humanity. Leave your thoughts here.

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Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

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April 10, 2005: This Week's Top Stories The Coyne Column: "Why do you study Jesuits?" 10 Apr Al Kamen says Condi Rice is Baffled 8 Apr Chris Dodd makes "sneak attack" on AgustaWestland 7 Apr Accused attacker maintains innocence 7 Apr Jim Walsh supports Sinn Féin declaration 7 Apr Crisis Corps team in Thailand begins work 6 Apr Tom Weisner wins big in Aurora Mayor's Race 6 Apr BBDO wins EFFIE Ad Awards for "Life is Calling" 6 Apr PCVs removed after missionaries killed in Guyana 5 Apr Chris Matthews covers death of Pope John Paul II 5 Apr 24 Congressmen sign Peace Corps letter 4 Apr Update: PCVs in Kyrgyzstan back in communities 4 Apr Tom Murphy lays into Bush administration 4 Apr Bellamy urges legislators to protect children 4 Apr Lynn Olson manages art gallery after judgeship 4 Apr Bob Taft promotes tax code overhaul in Ohio 3 Apr Richard Kaminski lost in village in Botswana 3 Apr

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April 10, 2005: Events around the Country North Carolina RPCV discusses Nepal trek on April 14 6 Apr South Carolina RPCVs to see off PCVs on April 18 5 Apr Gaddi Vasquez speaks at Northwestern University 6 Apr Henry McKoy speaks at Clemson University 8 Apr Minnesota RPCVs need Photos for Exhibition 24 Mar Maryland RPCVs eat crab cakes in Annapolis 17 Mar RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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April Feature Stories - only on PCOL Dream Come True - Revisiting India after 34 years The Coyne Column: Read Winning Vanity Fair PCV Essay Tomas Belsky's paintings inspired by service in Brazil RPCV reunites with friend after 40 years RPCV reviews "Los Heraldos Negros" by Cesar Vallejo Photo Essay: Taking it to the Streets

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Crisis Corps arrives in Thailand After the Tsunami in Southeast Asia last December, Peace Corps issued an appeal for Crisis Corps Volunteers and over 200 RPCVs responded. The first team of 8 Crisis Corps volunteers departed for Thailand on March 18 to join RPCVs who are already supporting relief efforts in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and India with other agencies and NGO's.

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RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC RPCVs Sam Farr, Chris Shays, Thomas Petri, James Walsh, and Mike Honda have asked their colleagues in Congress to add their names to a letter they have written to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, asking for full funding of $345 M for the Peace Corps in 2006. As a follow-on to Peace Corps week, please read the letter and call your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to add their name to the letter.

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Add your info now to the RPCV Directory Call Harris Publishing at 800-414-4608 right away to add your name or make changes to your listing in the newest edition of the NPCA's Directory of Peace Corps Volunteers and Former Staff. Then read our story on how you can get access to the book after it is published. The deadline for inclusion is May 16 so call now.

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March 1: National Day of Action Tuesday, March 1, is the NPCA's National Day of Action. Please call your Senators and ask them to support the President's proposed $27 Million budget increase for the Peace Corps for FY2006 and ask them to oppose the elimination of Perkins loans that benefit Peace Corps volunteers from low-income backgrounds. Follow this link for step-by-step information on how to make your calls. Then take our poll and leave feedback on how the calls went.

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