51 and starting over

After 26 years of marriage, a 51-year-old listener is learning how to manage money on her own. She has a solid income, retirement savings, home-equity proceeds, temporary spousal support—and a persistent fear that one wrong decision could ruin everything. Should she buy another house? Pay off her car? Invest the divorce settlement? Keep helping her adult children? And is retiring at 65 still realistic? In this episode, we separate the financial damage of divorce from the emotional disruption of divorce, establish the correct order of operations, and build a practical 12-month plan for starting over without starting from zero.