Of all the significant life events that get women more involved in managing household finances and investments, divorce is the leading trigger, according to a survey from TD Waterhouse.

Events that involve a woman’s spouse/partner have the greatest impact on her involvement with household financial management, far ahead of childbirth, job loss, retirement or illness, the poll found.

Among women who experienced specific major events, 65% percent became more involved in their household finances after a divorce, 61% after a spouse or partner became ill or disabled, and 59% after the death of a spouse or partner. By contrast, only 47% became more involved after personally becoming ill or disabled, 46% after losing their own job and 43% after the birth of a child.

“Clearly, women experience the loss of a spouse or partner as more devastating to their financial situation than major changes they might undergo themselves,” says Patricia Lovett-Reid, senior vp, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. “This suggests they are overly reliant on their partners with respect to financial planning and managing household investments.”

While almost two-thirds of divorced women say that divorce led them to become more involved in their finances, only one in six women (16%) have a financial “Plan B” in the event of divorce.

“Nobody likes to think about divorce, let alone plan for it,” continues Lovett-Reid. “But almost four in 10 marriages end before the 30th wedding anniversary, and experience tells us that divorce tends to impact women more harshly than men.”

For most life events that don’t necessarily involve a spouse or partner, respondents who experienced them are fairly evenly divided among those who say it made them more involved in their finances and those who say it had no impact. In two categories — job loss and becoming ill or disabled — one in five women who experienced it say it led them to become less involved in managing their household finances.

The 2007 Female Investor Poll was conducted for TD Waterhouse using TNS Canadian Facts’ online panel. Respondents for the survey were women aged 25 to 69 who have sole or shared responsibility for household financial planning or investment decisions. A total of 995 women participated in the online survey between September 14 and 19.