How to remain single without letting it cost you

A few weeks ago, Pew Research released a report showing that a record number of today's young adults in their 20s and early 30s are unmarried. And if current trends continue, one in four will never get married.

The decision to remain single, or even to cohabitate instead of getting married, tends to negatively affect a person's financial future. A 2013 article in The Atlantic calculated that over a lifetime the higher costs add up to as much as $1 million.

Here are the major financial penalties for being single, and some potential strategies for getting around them.

Health insurance: Single people lack the security of health care through a spouse's employer. And when purchasing their own coverage, it costs more per person for individuals than for couples or families. A partial fix is to stay on your parents' policy for as long as possible. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, young adults up to age 26 still can be enrolled on a family policy and probably will save money that way.

Taxes: Married couples filing jointly get a higher standard deduction, several special tax credits and have higher income thresholds to qualify for certain tax breaks. There's not much that single people can do about these penalties. But you at least could take advantage of your single status by pursuing a freelance or entrepreneurial career. As a single person you are free to itemize your deductions, which is more difficult to do when filing jointly, since both spouses have to choose the same deduction strategy.

Housing: Married people are more likely to buy homes, but home ownership for single women, in particular, is rising. If you can afford a mortgage on your own, it can be a good path to building financial security without waiting for the right personal relationship to come along.

Retirement: Single people miss out on the additional protection of spousal Social Security benefits, and certain tax benefits on retirement accounts as well. The antidote, of course, is to save early, often and generously.

Career, education and family: Here's an advantage on the other side of the line. Each year that a woman stays single, childless and working, she will earn more compared with her married mom counterparts. The difference is not small: Single women without kids earn 96 cents for every buck a man earns, while married mothers earn 76 cents on the dollar.

But the so-called motherhood penalty diminishes for the most highly qualified women. So if you want to baby-proof your career, use the single years to gain valuable experience and education. That will put you in the catbird seat whether it's ever time to commit.