But this is the worst time to do that. You need to force yourself to make your own decisions. Memories and money Statistics show that the plight of the surviving spouse is largely a woman's ordeal. According to the AARP , of the estimated 13 million widowed Americans, more than 11 million of them are women. While the U.S. Census Bureau puts the average age of widowhood at 55, an estimated 500,000 widows lost their spouses before age 45.
Women are at a financial disadvantage on several fronts when their spouses die.
The time women spend out of the workforce to raise children or care for aging parents often results in smaller Social Security payouts, and also costs them in pension accumulation and lost promotion chances. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute , the Social Security payment for women is 31 percent less, and the average monthly pension for women is 44 percent less, than for men. Widowers are often the breadwinner and typically have been managing the family's insurance and investments. In most cases, widowers are better prepared to weather the sudden loss of their spouse, at least financially. But gender does not automatically define who will need help in finding ways to survive financially after the loss of a spouse.