The shopping trend of Singles' Day may have started in China, but the trend of singlehood is global—and having repercussions that go far beyond online shopping. It could even end up threatening retirement.

If that seems far-fetched, consider this. According to a Forbes report, it reflects a broader trend of people not becoming partnered and thus doing many things alone that used to be done by couples: not just shopping, but dining out, traveling, buying homes, even career changes at which a partnered person might hesitate—in short, many commonplace activities, along with major milestones in life, are being transformed by singles who decide differently than half of a couple would.

So how does this play out for retirement? While there are plenty of widows and widowers who enter retirement alone, most people are in a relationship and base their retirement actions and decisions on that relationship. For instance, a couple will likely have a larger home than a single person, and possibly plan on downsizing and selling that home for cozier (and cheaper) quarters in retirement.

But if people are staying single (and typically postponing or abandoning the purchase of a home because of salary or debt woes), who will buy those houses? That will not only affect where a retired person (or couple) lives, it could affect their financial well-being in retirement. If they were counting on the money from a home sale to help meet retirement expenses, or at the least hoping to cut their own expenses, they may have a harder time doing so.

Then there are those who need to depend on someone else to share the load—both financially and physically—in retirement. Couples typically each have funds to contribute to retirement, and share the tasks that must be done—particularly if one partner is ill or neither one can handle all the chores alone: shopping, cooking, cleaning, home maintenance, to name a few.

If one partner is good at tackling repair jobs around the house while the other manages the finances, how will singles manage? Can they truly become jacks or jills of all trades? If not, they'll find themselves in need of assistance, whether paid for or not.

What will happen when all these singles need care in retirement? With much of the care given to seniors coming from often-unpaid family members, to whom will singles turn—and how will they afford to pay for care if it's not contributed by willing family members?

And if there's no partner to share the financial burden in the event of a job loss or other problem, how will singles cope?

Anyone who might find themselves in such a position ought to reconsider retirement plans, lest they enter retirement alone and become beset by problems that could have more easily been solved by two.

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Can millennials' move to singlehood torpedo retirement?

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