{"id":3563,"date":"2020-03-03T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T06:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/?p=3563"},"modified":"2020-07-30T22:20:34","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T05:20:34","slug":"divorce-financial-advice-for-women-3-steps-to-help-you-financially-prepare-for-a-divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/divorce-financial-advice-for-women-3-steps-to-help-you-financially-prepare-for-a-divorce\/","title":{"rendered":"Divorce Financial Advice for Women: 3 Steps to Help You Financially Prepare for a Divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Divorce is an emotionally challenging experience, and the process can have a profound negative impact not only on the couple involved, but also on their family.\u00a0 And getting divorced can be financially painful, as well \u2013 <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/the-financial-impact-of-divorce-on-women-5-challenges-youll-face\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">especially for women<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 Studies have shown that even women with substantial assets suffer financially during and after a divorce.\u00a0 Fortunately, there are things you can do to make the process easier.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we have put together the following divorce financial advice for women.<\/p>\n<h2>Get Organized<\/h2>\n<h3>Organize Your Documents<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s often helpful to develop a simple system to organize your documents, so that if your attorney, accountant or other advisor ask you for information you can easily retrieve it.\u00a0 Some experts suggest grouping related documents together, to avoid missing any important information.\u00a0 For example, you could keep all of the paperwork related to your home together \u2013 the deed, purchase documents, mortgage statements, property tax records, and such.\u00a0 This can help ensure you\u2019ve got all the details you need when determining how to divide assets.<\/p>\n<h3>What You Own and What You Owe<\/h3>\n<p>As part of the divorce process, you\u2019ll likely be dividing with your ex-spouse.\u00a0 So, you\u2019ll need a clear picture of what your assets and liabilities are.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve not been very involved with the household finances during your marriage, you\u2019ll need to spend some time getting informed, so that you\u2019re not at a disadvantage during negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a partial list of documents you\u2019ll want to gather together:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Recent bank and investment account statements, for both retirement and non-retirement accounts<\/li>\n<li>Pension and Social Security statements<\/li>\n<li>Life insurance statements<\/li>\n<li>Deeds for properties, like your family home and any vacation or rental properties<\/li>\n<li>Mortgage, car loan and credit card statements<\/li>\n<li>At least two years of tax returns (and five to seven years if you own a business)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #00bbff;\">Need guidance\u00a0<span style=\"caret-color: #00bbff;\">financially preparing for or navigating a divorce?<\/span>\u00a0 Contact our team at Springwater Wealth today to learn how\u00a0<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #00bbff;\"><span style=\"caret-color: #00bbff;\">we can help.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Understand Your Finances<\/h2>\n<h3>You Don\u2019t Have to Call It a Budget<\/h3>\n<p>Gaining an understanding of your finances is one of the most important steps you can take if you\u2019re thinking about divorce, or are currently in the process.\u00a0 And the place to start for that is with a budget.\u00a0 For many people, the thought of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nerdwallet.com\/blog\/finance\/how-to-build-a-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">preparing a budget<\/a><\/strong> is about as appealing as a root canal.\u00a0 At Springwater, we sometimes avoid the term \u201cbudget\u201d, and instead ask our clients to review and understand their household \u201ccashflow\u201d.\u00a0 But regardless of what word you prefer, it\u2019s the foundation of a solid plan for your financial future, and essential to financially preparing for a divorce.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re not familiar with the family finances, the task of creating a budget may prove to be a bit of work. You\u2019ll probably want to become familiar with the current family financial picture first, and then look ahead to the future and ask yourself what will change.<\/p>\n<p>If you plan to stay in the family home, the changes may be small.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re planning to move, your entire budget may be very different.<\/p>\n<h3>Current and Projected Expenses<\/h3>\n<p>The easiest place to get started is with your fixed expenses \u2013 things that you know won\u2019t change much from month to month or year to year.\u00a0 This would typically include your mortgage or rent and property taxes; utilities like gas\/electric, water, phone and cable; and of course, groceries.<\/p>\n<p>After you\u2019ve listed all of your core living expenses, you should turn to your variable expenses \u2013 the things that perhaps aren\u2019t essential, but still show up during most months.\u00a0 These would typically include entertainment, dining out, periodic minor home repairs, shopping and clothes.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, you\u2019ll want to look at some larger, infrequent expenditures, and make sure that you\u2019re accounting for them, too.\u00a0 If you have kids, how will you pay for the cost of their education? When will you need to replace your appliances?\u00a0 What about the roof on your home, or your car?<\/p>\n<h3>Income<\/h3>\n<p>Of course, your expenses are only one half of the financial picture.\u00a0 It\u2019s also important to have a clear understanding of your income sources.\u00a0 Where will the money to live on come from?<\/p>\n<p>You may have employment income, spousal support for a limited or undefined period, or income from a pension, investments or real estate.<\/p>\n<h3>Finding a Balance<\/h3>\n<p>Once you have a clear view of your expenses and your income, you\u2019ll compare the two.\u00a0 Hopefully, your income is greater than your expenses, and you have a surplus most or every month.\u00a0 Unfortunately, in many cases after a divorce there\u2019s a shortfall.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t unusual, and it shouldn\u2019t be totally surprising.\u00a0 Divorce generally takes the income and expenses of one household, and then expects that income to support two households. If that\u2019s the case for you, some financial creativity is required.<\/p>\n<p>Look first to reduce your variable expenses.\u00a0 What can you eliminate or cut back on?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve gone through that process, and still find there\u2019s a shortfall, you\u2019ll want to take a hard look at your fixed expenses to see if they\u2019re really all \u201cfixed\u201d.\u00a0 For example, can you downsize your home, which can lower a number of your monthly expenses, like mortgage\/rent, property taxes, and utilities?<\/p>\n<p>At the same time that you\u2019re reviewing all of your fixed and variable expenses, you should also see if it\u2019s possible to increase your income.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not working, could you return to the workforce, even on a part-time basis (at first)?\u00a0 And if you\u2019re already working, are there opportunities to move to a higher-paying position?<\/p>\n<p>Can you improve the performance of your investments, and generate more return for the same level of risk?\u00a0 Are your investments too conservative, given your risk tolerance and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/i\/investment_horizon.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">investment horizon<\/a><\/strong>?\u00a0 Reviewing your investments is a great way to financially prepare for divorce.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, you should project forward how you think your income and expenses will change over time.\u00a0 If you have kids, you\u2019ll want to include education costs.\u00a0 Ask yourself what\u2019s important to you, and what you\u2019d be comfortable changing.\u00a0 By setting your priorities, you\u2019ll be better able to follow a spending plan in the future.<\/p>\n<h2>Get Help<\/h2>\n<p>For most people, personal finances are never easy, and divorce simply makes things even more complex and complicated.\u00a0 While you may be fortunate to have caring family and friends providing you with well-meant advice, the best source of guidance will be a professional <span style=\"color: #00bbff;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #00bbff;\" href=\"http:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/a-womans-guide-to-financially-survive-a-divorce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener sponsored noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #00bbff;\">financial advisor<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>, preferably one with experience providing divorce financial advice for women.<\/p>\n<p>An advisor will be able to help you use your financial information, your goals and your priorities to build a <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/women-planning-for-retirement-why-you-need-an-effective-financial-plan-in-place\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">financial plan<\/a><\/strong> that resonates with <u>you<\/u>.\u00a0 And having a personal financial plan is one of the best ways to financially prepare for divorce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Divorce is an emotionally challenging experience, and the process can have a profound negative impact not only on the couple involved, but also on their family.\u00a0 And getting divorced can be financially painful, as well \u2013 especially for women.\u00a0 Studies have shown that even women with substantial assets suffer financially during and after a divorce.\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[150,3,6],"tags":[154,151,66],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}