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" You landed that raise, you paid off your credit card, and you&amp;#039;re saving some money. You feel pretty secure, right? But these basic steps aren&amp;#039;t enough. &amp;quot;Even if you&amp;#039;re relatively well off right now, things can change fast,&amp;quot; says Mary Claire Allvine, an Atlanta-based financial planner and author of The 7 Most Important Money Decisions You&amp;#039;ll Ever Make. In fact, nearly 1.5 million women filed for bankruptcy in 2005 (roughly half were married and half were single, divorced, or widowed). But fear not \u2014 these six money-smart moves will go a long way toward protecting you no matter what life has in store.  1. If you&amp;#039;re married, open your own savings account. &amp;quot;In addition to the accounts you have with your husband or partner \u2014 which should include a joint emergency fund worth about 10 percent of your combined income \u2014 put aside 10 percent of your personal annual income in your own name,&amp;quot; says Susan Strasbaugh, a financial planner, and owner and principal of Strasbaugh Financial Advisory in Colorado Springs. Why? &amp;quot;Either one of you can clean out a joint account at any time,&amp;quot; says Strasbaugh. Plus, having a savings account in your own name \u2014 without your husband or boyfriend \u2014 ensures that you&amp;#039;ve got cash in case of disaster, illness, or disability.  What if you&amp;#039;re a stay-at-home at mom and don&amp;#039;t earn an income? &amp;quot;Discretionary spending money should be equal for both partners,&amp;quot; says Allvine. Establish how much each of you can spend outside the family cash pool. &amp;quot;Then, put aside at least 10 percent of that into your own savings account,&amp;quot; she says.  2. Get your own credit card. Having at least one card in your own name that you use regularly establishes your credit history; if you&amp;#039;re married, it will give you some protection if anything goes wrong with your husband&amp;#039;s credit. Good credit is crucial for everything from getting a low mortgage rate to opening a cell phone account, according to Craig Watts of Fair Isaac Corporation, the company that developed FICO, the most widely used credit score.  Once a year, request a free copy of your report from all three national credit-reporting agencies (available at annualcreditreport.com). Look for errors (such as late payments that weren&amp;#039;t actually late) or signs of identity theft (such as accounts you never opened). Report any errors immediately by phone or through the credit agency Websites (experian.com/disputes, transunion.com, and equifax.com). 3. Open a retirement account. Here&amp;#039;s a scary stat: 2.5 million women age 65 and over live in poverty \u2014 more than twice the number of men in poverty in that age bracket. So, whether you&amp;#039;re single or married, you need your own retirement account. &amp;quot;Not only does your own retirement account protect you in case of divorce, it&amp;#039;s fun to control the investment options,&amp;quot; says Strasbaugh.  Join your plan at work if your company offers one. While many experts recommend saving 10 percent of your income for retirement, even if you&amp;#039;re saving only the minimum (typically 1 percent of your income), a little bit will make a big difference over time. And some 74 percent of companies that provide a 401(k) or other retirement plan will match your contributions. According to a recent survey, the typical match is up to 6 percent of your salary \u2014 that&amp;#039;s free money for you.  If your company doesn&amp;#039;t offer a retirement savings plan, you&amp;#039;ve maxed out an existing one, or you don&amp;#039;t work outside the home, you can put away up to $4,000 (or more if you&amp;#039;re over 50) in a traditional or ROTH IRA (depending on income), available through companies like Fidelity (fidelity.com) or Vanguard (vanguard.com). You can usually open an IRA with as little as $200, and some firms, like TIAA-CREF (tiaa-cref.org), will waive the minimum if you make monthly investments of at least $50.  4. Plan for the worst. &amp;quot;If anyone depends on your income or your husband&amp;#039;s income \u2014 like your kids, an aging parent, or even yourself \u2014 you both need enough life insurance to support those dependents in case one of you dies unexpectedly,&amp;quot; says Allvine. Most single people without kids don&amp;#039;t need insurance, she adds, unless they support another family member. A rough rule of thumb: Insure your husband for seven to 10 times his salary, says James Santos, an insurance specialist and founder of Pinnacle Financial Group, a financial services firm in Des Plaines, IL. If the family depends on your income, use the same rule for your own life insurance. And if either you or your partner is not working, consider a minimum of $250,000. Most people won&amp;#039;t necessarily need life insurance forever \u2014 usually just until your kids can earn their own income. That&amp;#039;s why it&amp;#039;s a smart move to buy &amp;quot;term insurance,&amp;quot; which covers you for a set period of time \u2014 say, 20 years. Compare plans and prices at termquote.com or quotesmith.com. If you support a family member who will never be able to live independently \u2014 like a disabled child or parent \u2014 or if you&amp;#039;d like your spouse to be protected through your old age, you should consider &amp;quot;permanent insurance,&amp;quot; such as whole-life policies. These cost more but cover you for your entire life as long as you pay the premiums. Find an agent to help you \u2014 and educate yourself on types of insurance \u2014 at life-line.org. 5. Get organized. In an emergency, you don&amp;#039;t want to waste time rummaging for important papers or passwords. Once a year, list all your bank accounts, credit cards, loans, investments, insurance policies, and other financial data in one place \u2014 keep it all on paper with any PIN numbers or access codes in a safe-deposit box or other safe location, or in a secure computer file. You also need to list the name of your lawyer, where your will is, and details about any other assets you have. A great resource to help you list all your financial details: &amp;quot;The Family Love Letter,&amp;quot; written by attorney John J. Scroggin, available for free at scrogginlaw.com.  6. Build your own relationships. &amp;quot;Develop your own relationship with any financial professionals that you use in your family,&amp;quot; says Alexandra Lebenthal, president and CEO of a New York City- based financial-planning boutique. &amp;quot;The worst time to try to make that happen is after an emotional situation, like a death or divorce.&amp;quot; Attend all appointments and sit in on all phone calls with financial planners \u2014 and ask as many questions as it takes for you to truly understand your financial picture. Above all, don&amp;#039;t sign any financial documents without knowing what they mean. If you take steps now to build relationships and understand your finances as a whole, you \u2014 and your money \u2014 will be better off.  How Much Should You Really Be Spending? Expenses vary widely depending on where you live, but these ranges offer smart guidelines for budgeting your cash.  1. Housing % of Net Monthly Income: 35-45%  2. Auto and Transportation % of Net Monthly Income: 15-25%  3. Food % of Net Monthly Income: 10-20%  4. Monthly Installments (such as credit-card or loan payments) % of Net Monthly Income: 10-20%  5. Utilities % of Net Monthly Income: 8-15%  6. Medical (such as insurance premiums and prescriptions) % of Net Monthly Income: 8-15%  7. Personal (such as club dues and haircuts) % of Net Monthly Income: 5-10%  8. Savings/investings % of Net Monthly Income: 5-10%  9. Clothing % of Net Monthly Income: 3-5%  Source: Springboard Non-Profit Consumer Credit Management (credit.org). "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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