A Camarillo divorcee takes control of her finances

During her three marriages, Marjorie Diehl says she never felt in control of her financial destiny.

"I was raised to be a mother and a housewife," said Diehl, 58. "I deferred and didn't take a stand."

When she completes her divorce from her third husband at the end of this month, Diehl finally will be in charge of her financial future. The trouble is that she doesn't know what to do with her money.

A human resources manager for a uniform company in Burbank, Diehl makes close to $90,000 a year. She also picks up $6,600 a year renting out a room in her Camarillo house. Her only debt is the $92,000 mortgage balance on the three-bedroom home, valued at $400,000.

She has about $422,500 in savings and retirement accounts.

Those savings, however, will have to carry her well into old age. Diehl has longevity in her genes. Her 85-year-old mother still works as an extra in movies -- often as a grieving grandmother in funeral scenes -- and plays golf every weekend.

Diehl's vision of retirement isn't lavish. She dreams of hanging out with her three grown children, all living in Southern California.

A crossword puzzle whiz and self-professed game show diva, she said it would be fun to land an appearance on a television game show.

But most of all, she wants to know whether she'll be financially secure.

"It's going to be a close call," said Mark Gleason, a chartered financial analyst with Wescap Management Group in Burbank. "She doesn't have a lot of money, so the money she has needs to be working very hard for her."

Thus far, Diehl's misstep in managing her money has been focusing on the wrong risks. Fearful of losing money in the stock market, she's harbored funds in low-yielding bank savings accounts.

But the bigger jeopardy for Diehl isn't losing money in stocks.

"The risk lies in her outliving her assets," Gleason said.

She's done a better job on cash flow. Several years ago, she refinanced her home into a 20-year loan with an interest rate of about 5.5%, allowing her to pay it off by the time she hopes to retire at age 70. She's avoided the temptation to cash in on her ample home equity and pile on debt with more refinancings or credit lines. As a result, her monthly mortgage is just $770.