The death of a spouse is a painful, often overwhelming event. Emotionally speaking, a divorce may carry nearly the same emotional stress and many of the same kinds of difficult decisions - recurring monthly expenses, budgeting, insurance, retirement investing, taxes, savings and other investments.

The consequences of both situations are often a sharp drop in a woman's standard of living.

Here are a few things to remember.

1. Ignore all advice from friends on how to immediately invest available cash such as insurance money or a divorce settlement.
2. Don't sell assets too quickly. Selling to get cash without some thought may lead to an ill-timed sale.
3. Never give up your control of your money to anybody.

A good place to start is the Certified Financial Planning Board of Standard's website at www.cfp.net to learn the basics of financial planning.

Getting control of your finances at a difficult time is important.