CAN YOU MAKE IT ON YOUR OWN?
This question stops so many people in their tracks. You know your marriage is no longer working. You want to provide positive and healthy examples for your kids of how to live a good life and get along with your spouse. But you feel trapped, because you don’t know if you can make it on your own financially if you divorce.
It’s important not to be paralyzed by fear of the unknown. Educate yourself. This is where a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™ practitioner, or CDFA®, comes in. I will help you find out if you can make it on your own. And if you can’t, I’ll help put together a plan so that you can get to that point.
I’ve seen this fear in clients from all walks of life--a homemaker who doesn’t feel like she can make enough money to continue living a certain lifestyle; a spouse who makes a fraction of what the other spouse makes; a couple who each earn similar amounts, but whose finances are tied up in the home and retirement accounts; or, a primary provider who fears being able to earn enough to continue to support a non-working spouse indefinitely.
A CDFA® professional will look at your income and assets and will craft a settlement that can take any of those scenarios into account. Do you need two years during which spousal support is a little more to get training for a better paying job? Would it help with a home purchase to be able to access a portion of your retirement accounts early and penalty-free? Will you still be able to save towards your retirement and future if you are paying spousal/child support. You can get knowledgeable answers to these questions that take out the guesswork and give you a 20-year look at your financial future.
Recently I worked with a client who was fearful that by not receiving spousal support, her standard of living would drop so dramatically that she would have to sell her home. I was able to look at the marital assets as they existed and assure the client, that even if the marital assets were split equitably and there was no spousal support, she could maintain a standard of living very close to what she had been accustomed to, and she could keep the house.
Just like therapy, you may need a little coaching or help figuring out how to work a new budget (or spending plan, as I like to call it). But you can craft a future with financial goals that will help you make it on your own. The answer is out there. The first step is finding a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™ professional to look at your assets and help you devise a plan to make it possible.