Taking financial stock after a divorce
“The biggest financial pitfall in life is divorce. And the biggest reason for divorce is marriage” – Gene Simmons
During Sukkot we had a family get-together. One of my relatives was telling me how it seems like every day someone else in his community is getting divorced. I told him that while through my line of work I know plenty of people who have gone through a divorce, I don’t really have any good friends who have ended their marriages.
And then... bang. Literally the next day we were told by friends that they are in divorce proceedings and then we heard about another two couples who recently decided to divorce. At the same time we received all this news, Emily Amrousi, former Yesha spokeswomen and well-known publicist, wrote an article in Makor Rishon about the downside of divorce – the part that no one really talks about – encouraging anyone thinking about taking this step to think again and again before going through with it. Her article went viral and caused waves throughout not just the religious Zionist community, but greater Israeli society as a whole.
As a financial adviser I am certainly not going to tell anyone whether they should or shouldn’t get divorced. What I can say is that it’s a very expensive step and has many longterm ramifications.
I want to start with a disclaimer, so no need to send me nasty emails. Don’t start calling me a male chauvinist, but from my experience dealing with many clients, for many divorced women, their new financial reality can be intimidating. That’s not to say that men don’t have the same issues, and, of course, many women have a firm grip on their finances and don’t have these issues, so this article isn’t for them. The need to coordinate a multitude of professionals, from accountants and lawyers to financial advisers and insurance agents, oftentimes means running themselves ragged while trying to hold down a job and raise the children.
Here are some money tips for women having gone or going through a divorce.
Take Stock
The first thing a divorcée needs to do is get her hands around the budget. This is the first step towards financial empowerment. Many clients have told me that by doing this relatively simple exercise, they feel that they gained a level of financial control they never assumed they would have. Whether you kept a budget while married or not isn’t relevant. You are going to have a whole new set of expenses and will probably have different sources and levels of income than you had previously. Break your expenses down to those that are monthly and those that are annual, one-time expenses. Once you have that organized, write down all of your various sources of income, salary, child support, etc.
What’s important in budgeting is to let your income drive your expenses. This means that once you know how much money enters your bank account each month, create a budget that limits your spending to the amount of income you have.
Understanding your budget can also play a major part in the asset division during your divorce proceedings. A well-known divorce lawyer once told me that much aggravation and time would be saved if people knew how much money they needed to live off of. With this information, you can avoid spending years and thousands of dollars fighting for every last penny. If you know how much you need to live, you’ll know how much money to ask for.
Invest big chinks
As part of a divorce settlement, many women come into large lump sums of money and have no idea of what to do with it. It’s important that this money is used to help meet any financial goals that you may have. If after doing your budget you see that you will need more income to make ends meet, then you will want to make sure that your money is invested in a way that can maximize the amount of income produced, while preserving or even growing your portfolio.
Better off
As I have quoted in the past about the impact of divorce on women, family mediator Kathleen O’Connell Corcoran, Ph.D., writes: “After divorce, women experience less stress and better adjustment in general than do men.” She continues, “Women are more likely to experience an increase in self-esteem when they divorce and add new roles to their lives.”
Use this newfound independence and take control of your new financial reality. Speak with a financial adviser and create a plan that will enable you to get on with your life and be financially independent.
The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.
Aaron Katsman is author of the book Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing (McGraw-Hill), and is a licensed financial professional both in the United States and Israel, and helps people who open investment accounts in the United States. Securities are offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. (www.prginc. net). Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, FSI. For more information, call (02) 624-0995 visit www.gpsinvestor.com or email aaron@lighthousecapital. co.il.