FORT WORTH, Texas–If your marriage has ended and you’re single again, make sure all your financial arrangements reflect your new status. First Command Financial Services offers a few tips to help you get your new financial life off to a good start.

Newly Single Tip #1: Change Your Beneficiary. A divorce may not have an automatic effect on beneficiary designations. So, unless you want your ex-spouse to get all your money, make sure you change beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts and life insurance policy and in your will.

Newly Single Tip #2: Remove Your Spouse’s Name from Joint Credit Card Accounts. You also should notify credit bureaus of your divorce so that future reports will be based only on your credit use.

Newly Single Tip #3: Adjust Your Investment Strategy. If your investment goals have changed, you may want to shift your assets into less — or more — risky investments. Also, make sure the amount and frequency of your investments are appropriate for your new income and goals.

Newly Single Tip #4: Review Your Retirement Plans. Your retirement years may look very different without your spouse in the picture. You may want to start making additional contributions to your 401(k) or IRA to maintain your current lifestyle after retirement.

Newly Single Tip #5: Make Sure the QDRO Is Received. If your divorce settlement determined how future pension and/or retirement plan benefits will be divided, your ex-spouse’s employer may need to receive a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). Make sure the plan administrator gets the QDRO so you’ll be able to receive your benefits.

Newly Single Tip #6: Contact the Social Security Administration. Even though your marriage ended, your ex-spouse’s work record may entitle you to receive additional benefits.

First Command Financial Services and its affiliates, including First Command Bank and First Command Financial Planning, assist American families in their efforts to build wealth, reduce debt and pursue their lifetime financial goals and dreams—focusing on consumer behavior as the first and most powerful determinant of results. Through personalized financial plans that emphasize investments, insurance and full-service banking, First Command Financial Advisors have established lasting relationships with hundreds of thousands of client families since 1958.