The Empire 107

'Old story: Women may have it worse.
Divorce and lost earning time could put living standards in a free
fall late in life.
By Jonathan Peterson, Times Staff Writer

Ellen Tucker Emerson cut short her nursing career to help raise her
children, but money was never a worry. Her husband made a good living
as a lawyer, and the family didn't miss her income.

"We traveled where we wanted," she said. "He bought me furs and
jewelry. We stayed at the best hotels."

Then the marriage fell apart. Now 51, Tucker Emerson scrambles to pay
the bills and wonders how she will get by in retirement.

"Maybe I'll be that old lady on the cruise ship working as a singer,
and I'll supplement my income working in a nursing home," said Tucker
Emerson, who lives on the coast of Maine. She added, "We need to
teach our daughters that you have to take care of yourself for the
future."

Like millions of other upwardly mobile women of the baby boom
generation, Tucker Emerson faces the danger that retirement will
bring a sharp downhill slide in lifestyle. Many of these women could
suffer a greater decline in living standards in later life than their
mothers did.'

Lees verder: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-women28dec28,0,7446902.story