Wealth Planning for Independent Women Over 45—How to Overcome Challenges and Thrive on Your Own Terms
In this episode of the Women’s Wealth Canada Podcast, host Glory Gray dives into the unique financial realities of women who are navigating life solo — whether by choice or by circumstance.
From building an emergency fund as your own safety net to planning for retirement without a partner’s pension, Glory unpacks the key strategies single women need to create a life of financial security and freedom. She explores everything from insurance and estate planning to housing, healthcare, and creative lifestyle choices that reflect your values — not anyone else’s.
You’ll also hear inspiring stories of women who are rewriting the rules and thriving on their own terms.
If you're over 45 and living independently, this episode is packed with practical advice to help you build wealth, protect your future, and design a financial plan that’s as bold and beautiful as you are.
Table of Contents
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Wealth Planning for Independent Women Over 45
How to Overcome Challenges and Thrive on Your Own Terms
The Unique Financial Challenges for Single Women
All right, let’s start with the realities of planning your financial future as a single woman.
Your experience is different — and your financial plan should be too.
Let’s look at a few of the common challenges.
Why Emergency Planning is So Important
You’re the breadwinner — and the backup plan. If you lose your job, get sick, or face a big change in your life, there’s no second income to fall back on. That makes emergency planning and insurance protection extra important for you. So, that’s one challenge.
Plus, women are usually the caregivers, caring for both children and elderly parents more so than men. If that’s you, you’ll want to consider that in your savings plans.
Your Retirement Planning Is Up To You
You won’t have a partner’s pension to lean on and you’ll be paying all the housing costs. If you want to retire well, you’ll need a clear, focused plan — and you’ll want to start early if you can.
Affordable Housing is a Challenge as a Single Woman
Buying — or even renting — in cities like Toronto, Vancouver, or Calgary on one income? It’s tough. But women are getting creative. From co-ownership with friends to moving to smaller communities — you’ve got options, even if they look different from the norm.
There are two neighbours of mine who both lost their spouses. They ended up selling their respective houses and buying one bigger house that they shared together. It had separate suites so they had their own space, but it was less expensive than owning two houses.
What I really loved was that they turned their living room into a massive library and music room. They lined the walls with bookcases and in the center was a baby grand piano and other instruments. And they invited friends over to play with them or just enjoy the music. Brilliant.
Managing Healthcare as You Age
Without a partner in the picture, you’ll need a plan for who helps you navigate health decisions — and how you’ll fund care if you need it down the road.
The Social Stigma Of Being A Single Woman
There’s still that lingering idea out there that being a single woman is somehow a temporary or lesser state of being. But you and I know: it’s not. Being single is a whole, full, powerful way to live — and we need to build financial plans that honour that.
The Financial Freedoms and Advantages of Being a Single Woman
Now — let’s talk about the flip side. Because while being single comes with challenges, it also comes with incredible freedom.
And from where I sit, working with clients across Canada, I’ve seen single women make some of the most thoughtful, creative, and courageous financial choices out there.
Let’s talk about a few of these advantages:
You Have Total Control
You decide what your money supports. Want to retire early? Travel the world? Invest in your own business? You don’t need permission.You don’t need a consensus.
Your Plan Reflects Your Values
No compromise. No his-and-hers or hers-and-hers goals. Just your priorities, clearly reflected in your investments and financial decisions. So, you can invest the way YOU want to.
And you may have heard me say before, the research has shown that women outperform men when it comes to long term investing. You’ve got this.
As a Single Woman, You’re Agile. You’re Creative.
I’ve seen women partner with friends to buy property, as I mentioned. Or, they join co-housing communities, or design lifestyles that don’t fit any of the old rules — and they’re thriving. A few choose not to have what we would consider a home at all. Some are professional housesitters. Some live out of a camper. Some are on a cruise ship 365 days of the year. If you can find a lifestyle that keeps you in good health, allows you to be socially active, because that’s very important, especially if you’re single, and feeds your soul, great!
You’re Building Wealth for You
You’re not building someone else’s legacy — you’re building a life of freedom, stability, and joy, on your terms.
So yes — single doesn’t mean stuck. It means self-defined.
Key Planning Strategies
Keeping in mind the challenges of being single in Canada and the freedoms and advantages — let’s talk about what smart wealth planning actually looks like for single women in Canada.
Here’s a simple framework I use with clients to build confidence and clarity, no matter your income level or stage of life.
Build a Strong Foundation
Mindful Spending Plan
You’ve heard me say this many times, your mindful spending plan is where you always must start. Grab your bank statement and your credit card statement. Look at how much you spend each month on everything. Are you spending money on anything that doesn’t really serve you? That doesn’t bring you joy or good health? Get rid of those mindless items and put your money towards things that bring you joy, wisdom, memories and good health. Once you have a good idea of what you must spend on basics every month, you have the first building block of a financial plan for life.Emergency fund
This is money you put into a savings account that earns you interest, away from your chequing account. Aim for an amount that is equal to 6–12 months of your basic expenses. It’s your safety net when there’s no second income. Importantly, it will keep you from going into credit card debt when something unexpected happens.Insurance
Spend some time thinking about what would happen if you were hurt and can’t work or were to pass away suddenly. Disability insurance or critical illness insurance protect your income if you can’t work. Life insurance is very important if you have children or someone else who is going to depend on your income if you were to pass away unexpectedly. If you are single with no dependents, you may not need life insurance, but do think about what would happen if you can’t work.Legal basics
A Power of Attorney is essential for a single person because no partner is available to advocate for you if you are unable to take care of your own affairs yourself because you’re ill. Also make sure you have a Will and Healthcare Directive in place. A Healthcare Directive allows someone else to work with health care workers per your wishes if you’re unable to do it yourself. For example, if you’re unconscious. A will is very important if you’re single. Who will take care of your children? Your pets? With no will, your estate will be handled per provincial law and that may not be what you want.
Invest Early and Often
If you find you are paying too much in income taxes, contributing money into your RRSP is going to solve two goals at the same time: saving on taxes and saving for your retirement.
If I have a client who has many different large goals they’re saving for at the same time and plan to take some money out in the next few years, it might make more sense to contribute money into their TFSA if they need a lot of flexibility.
If you’ve maxed out both your RRSP and TFSA, look into non-registered investments. Sometimes this is called a plain investment account. These accounts don’t have the advantage of tax-deferred growth that RRSP and TFSAs have. TFSAs actually have tax-free growth. But you can only put so much money into those accounts, so look to investment accounts after those are maxed out.
✨ Time and consistency are more powerful than big lump sums. Set up automatic deposits. Set it and forget it.✨
Plan Your Retirement Like a CEO
This is where I spend most of my time with my clients: Helping them think like a CEO.
First, think about where you want to live in retirement and what that lifestyle costs. You won’t know exactly, but you can get a good idea.
Then, log into your My Service Canada Account and check your CPP benefits estimate. This will give you an idea of how much income you’ll have coming in from the government when you retire, so you know how much you’ll need to save to make up the difference.
Next, to live that lifestyle, will you downsize? Rent? Work part-time? Travel?
I have a friend who funded her travel by bringing roommates into her home. Now,she can travel the world months at a time without worrying about who is caring for her home while she’s gone.
Lastly, plan for long-term care in your later years. We tend to spend more money on our health care the last 5 years of our lives. But of course, we have no idea when that will be. So, don’t leave it to chance. Build it into your plan.
Build Your Financial Support Network
You may be single — but you don’t have to plan alone. One issue you may encounter is decision fatigue. When you’re a couple, you can learn from each other and make decisions together. When you’re on your own, you need to make all the decisions yourself. And that may cause you to procrastinate making decisions at all.
You may feel that when you’re on your own, you need to know everything about your financial life. But you don’t, you just need a team.
Start with finding a financial planner who understands women’s goals.
Add an accountant, estate lawyer, and maybe a money coach or therapist if you think you have some stories in your life that are keeping you from achieving your goals.
And surround yourself with a community of other women who talk openly about money. I’ve been thinking about starting a Women’s Wealth Canada community online. Drop a comment on YouTube or send me a text through your podcast app if you think that’s a good idea.
Don’t Skip Estate Planning
Again, make sure you have a valid Will, a Power of Attorney, and a Healthcare Directive.
Summary
Here’s what I want you to take away today:
You don’t need a partner to be financially secure.
You don’t need a second income to thrive.
And you don’t need anyone’s permission to live life your way.
Wealth planning for single women isn’t about scarcity. It’s about sovereignty. You are the queen of your life!
You have the tools, the options, and the strength to build a life that works beautifully — just for you.
And if no one’s told you lately — you’re doing an incredible job.
If you need some help on your financial journey, particularly if you’re someone age 45 and beyond and need a financial planner to help you with this next phase of life, our office is accepting new clients this year. So, if you live in Canada and want to get serious about getting your financial house in order, go to GloryGray.com and get in touch with me.
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