夕阳婚 是退休的美梦还是噩梦(1)

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After she lost her second husband in 2007, Edie Tolchin started dating again at the age of 53. It was when she met Ken Robinson, who was a widower himself, that things got serious.

夕阳婚 是退休的美梦还是噩梦(1)

在2007年失去了第二任丈夫后,53岁的艾迪•托尔琴(Edie Tolchin)又开始约会了。她当时遇到了同样丧偶的肯•罗宾森(Ken Robinson),他们很快就开始谈婚论嫁了。

“Some people don’t like marriage,” said Tolchin, who lives in New Jersey in the US. “Some people want to be by themselves. I definitely enjoyed being married. And I was lonely.”

“有些人不喜欢结婚,”家住美国新泽西州的托尔琴说,“有的人就喜欢独处,但我确实渴望结婚,我感到很孤独。”

In 2014, at ages 60 and 63, they tied the knot.

于是在2014年,这对年龄分别为60和63岁的爱人喜结连理。

But unlike most newlyweds, who simply bask in the newness and bliss, one of the first things they did as a married couple was visit an estate planning attorney. There, they drew up a plan that addressed both their marriage and Tolchin’s two children from a previous marriage. “We have that all taken care of,” Tolchin said.

多数新婚夫妇都会完全沉溺在新奇和幸福之中,但与他们不同的是,这对老年夫妇结婚后立刻找到了遗产规划律师。他们在那里制定了一份计划,为自己的婚姻和托尔琴与前夫共同生育的两个孩子做好了安排。“我们把所有事情都安排妥当了。”托尔琴说。

Second (or third) marriages later in life can create a variety of challenges, since both partners often enter the union with significant assets accumulated over decades of earning. And, there are often grown children, grandchildren and inheritance issues.

二婚(或三婚)要面临很多挑战,因为夫妻双方可能都携带着几十年来积累的大量财产步入婚姻的殿堂。不仅如此,他们往往还要面临抚养子女和孙辈,以及遗产继承等问题。

“There is a lot to be considered at this point,” said Howard Pressman, a financial planner with Egan, Berger & Weiner in Washington, D.C.

“此时有很多事情需要考虑。”华盛顿特区 Egan, Berger & Weiner 公司的财务规划师霍华德•普雷斯曼(Howard Pressman)说。

In the UK, the number of men getting married in their late sixties has gone up by 25% and the number of women has gone up by 21%, according to the Office for National Statistics. In the US, 67% of people ages 55 to 64 who were previously married get married again, according to the Pew Research Center, and 50% of those 65 and older remarry.

根据英国国家统计局的数据,该国在接近70岁时结婚的男性人数已经增长了25%,女性则增长了21%。而根据皮尤研究中心(Pew Research Center)的数据,55至64岁的美国人有67%选择再婚,65岁或65岁以上的人群再婚比例达到50%。

If you’re thinking of walking down the aisle again — perhaps with a little more grey hair this time — here’s what you should keep in mind.

如果你想再次步入婚姻殿堂——这一次可能会长出更多的白发——那就应该牢记下面的事情。

What it’s going to take: It takes some planning to determine how tying the knot is going to affect all your assets. Marriage — especially at this stage of your life — is about more than companionship.

再婚的代价:需要制定一些计划才能判断婚姻对所有财产产生的影响。除了找到伴侣外,婚姻还关系到很多问题——尤其是在这个人生阶段

“What you need to be really aware of is that you are making a financial commitment to that person,” said Julia Chung, a financial and estate planner with JYC Financial in Langley, British Columbia, in Canada. “I think when people are in retirement or they’re older, they don’t think of it that way.”

“你必须明白自己向对方做出了财务承诺,”加拿大英属哥伦比亚省 JYC Financial 公司的财务和遗产规划师茱莉亚•钟(Julia Chung)说,“我认为,当人们退休或年迈时,他们就不会这样思考婚姻。”

How long to prepare: You need long enough to make sure you understand how marriage will affect your finances and to discuss how you want things to work. “The first thing we do is spend a lot of time talking about their wishes in terms of how their assets will get distributed after their death,” Pressman said.

筹备时间:需要花费充足的时间来确保你的确明白婚姻将对你的财务状况产生何种影响,并考虑你希望事态如何发展。“我们所做的第一件事就是花大量的时间与之展开沟通,了解他们希望自己身故后如何分配财产。”普雷斯曼说。

It's also important to realise that this is the person who usually becomes the default decision maker in the event that you’re incapacitated — and vice versa — unless you have financial and healthcare powers of attorney that name someone else. You’ll have to talk about what your wishes are in those circumstances. If you can’t have these kinds of conversations before you get married, you may want to rethink binding yourself legally to that person.

还必须明白一件事情:一旦你丧失行为能力,这个人将会默认替你做主——反之亦然——除非你拥有足够的财务和健康能力,让律师为你指派其他人。你们必须要沟通你在这些情况下的愿望。如果不能在结婚前展开这样的对话,那就应该重新考虑你是否愿意与此人合法地“绑在一起”。