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  By Vicki HaakGetting a good financial plan in place is no different than having a detailed road map before you head out on a journey. In this case, the journey is your life forward with as few bumps and meanderings as possible. We talked recently to Vicki L. Haak, Certified Financial Planner™ in Rhinebeck, N.Y., about the key steps for anyone widowed or divorced later in life to take. Haak, cited by Hudson Valley Magazine as one of its 2016 Five Star Wealth Managers, herself is divorced. What are the biggest financial concerns you hear from women who are 50 and older when they didn't expect...

Through the years we've accumulated lovely jewelry from family when we were younger and then from our spouses once we married. Styles change, and some of it, frankly, no longer appeals now that we’re beyond age 50. It’s dated looking in some cases, too gaudy in others, too matronly, too youthful, or connected with sad memories.  Recently, we each surveyed the cornucopia of treasures in our possession:  Barbara’s 30th-birthday earrings from her spouse now look so traditional with their detailed ribbons of 18-karat gold wound into clunky knots, plus she doesn't want remembrances of their togetherness. A necklace with X...

“My Way” was Frank Sinatra’s signature song and reflected his life’s ups and downs. But Sinatra did not have a corner on the “getting my way” market. That’s reserved for a special class of people.  Some of us simply have a knack for getting their way as if it’s almost in their DNA. I’m referring to the breed of person who always gets the best hotel rooms or parking spot, a free dinner at a restaurant when service is slower than ketchup pouring from a glass bottle, full cash back for a garment that has been worn but no longer...

Plan your trip, get in your car, put on your seat belt, and hit the gas to enjoy life's road trip When we each went through the heartache of losing a spouse, respectively to divorce and death, we gradually found our way forward through friendships, therapy, and sheer resilience and determination. However, continuing to navigate a new course forward as a solo periodically proved daunting.  In trying to support ourselves, sometimes we found what we were doing most of the time was: WORK. We neglected our HEALTH,  time to PLAY, and LOVE our closest family members, friends, and especially that...

We are excited to announce to our friends and supporters that the evite for our first major book launch and signing of Suddenly Single After  50: The Girlfriends’ Guide to Navigating Loss, Restoring Hope, and Rebuilding Your Life,” Rowman & Littlefield  will arrive in your inboxes Tuesday, October 4.    The event will be held in St. Louis (the city where we both lived when we lost our spouses) on Thursday, Dec. 1, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, at the Schlafly Library to be hosted by Left Bank Books. This will be no ordinary signing. Held in a Q&A format, it will...