A column by Jonathan Clements that appeared in The Wall Street Journal the day before Valentine's Day dealt with some of the financial aspects of his divorce. What he alluded to but did not discuss was the need for a woman to become knowledgeable and independent when it comes to investing.

Given the rise in both the divorce rate and the increasing number of women who choose to remain single, a woman's ability to manage her own investments, regardless of age or marital status, is more important today than it was when I first broached the subject more than 13 years ago.

Every woman needs to establish her own investment portfolio that she manages single handily using a deep discount brokerage firm. The use of a deep discount brokerage firm is not just a monetary issue. Rather, the object is for a woman to be able to function independently from the "advice" of others, especially stockbrokers. Deep discount firms do not give advice; they just execute orders.

Experience tells me that I can expect a tirade of comments challenging the need for a married woman to develop her own investment portfolio. Unfortunately, a number of gruesome statistics embraces the assertion that she should. For example, women reaching the age of 65 can expect to live for an additional 25 years. That means they have a better chance of outliving their financial resources than their male counterparts.

Twenty percent of the female population will never marry. For those that do marry, half will divorce. Within the first year after a divorce, a woman's income usually drops by an average of 30 percent.

Failing divorce, 75 percent of all married women are eventually widowed. Among those widows, many will find they are suddenly living at or near the poverty line, despite the fact that about 80 percent were doing fine before their husbands died.

The good news is that once a woman decides to take control of her financial destiny, the sky is the limit. Over the years, I have interviewed countless women who have established their own portfolios, added to those portfolios regularly, and as a result will be able to live out their lives relatively free of financial fears. However, in doing so they periodically had to resist the entreaties of others to change a particular course of action.

Yet, even the best of intentions sometimes go astray. Statistics indicate that women who save on average put aside about 1.5 percent of their income. That is not enough. I recommend, and most experts agree, that everyone who earns a wage should put aside no less than 10 percent of his or her gross income each year.

Do not write to me telling me that you cannot do that, or that it "hurts" too much. I can assure you that spending your golden years working at the Golden Arches will hurt a lot more.

My own experience has shown that women like to invest in safe, insured money market accounts and certificates of deposit, or low-yielding bond funds. I urge you to reconsider such a course of action. During every 20-year period since 1931 stocks have outperformed all other forms of investment. I unequivocally advocate that anyone under the age of 65 should entertain keeping no less than 85 percent of his or her portfolio in equities.

Assume that you are going to set up a stock portfolio, if you do not already have one, and that you will add to that portfolio on a regular basis. So which stocks should you buy? Bookstore shelves sag under the weight of mighty tomes attempting to answer that question.

We can slice through the Gordian knot and simplify the answer. Out of the nearly 9,000 public companies, you want to invest in 15 to 30 blue-chip industry leaders with a 10-year history of producing profits and dividends and whose products you understand. If you need ideas, check out the Dividend Achievers Handbook, published by Mergent (1-800-342-5647).