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Getting Your Financial Life
Back On Track After Divorce
By Ginita
Wall, CPA, CFP
 I have just been through a divorce, and I feel as
though I’ve been through the wringer. I have a great therapist who is helping me
through the emotional aftermath, but I don’t know where to begin to get my financial
life back on track.
 Unfortunately, "splitting the sheets" also means splitting the
assets and splitting the income. Here are five steps to get back on the road to financial
recovery.
Stash cash
Divorce is a financial drain. After divorce, you will need time to rebuild financial
resources. Begin now to squirrel away funds that will be available for emergencies,
vacations, etc. Those funds will see you through tough times, and nothing rebuilds
security like that good green poultice "cash."
Separate money
and emotion
As you work through your grief and anger and mourn lost dreams, don’t let money
issues cloud your perspective. Life may not be fair, but don’t descend into
depression with each check you write or re- ignite your anger if your support check comes
late. Accept your financial situation, know your legal remedies, and pursue them with
dogged detachment.
Focus on
finances
It’s hard to be optimistic about a shaky financial future. If you are
disoriented financially, this is the right time to get a grip on your financial life.
Sharpen your pencil and get busy creating new financial plans for your future. Once you
know where you are going, you can look forward to the future rather than back to the past.
Get your career
in gear
If your career opportunities are not what you would like, get off your duff and make some
changes. You are beginning a new life, and it’s time to move ahead rather than
wallowing in the past. Take some courses, prepare a resume, explore the opportunities in
the marketplace. Turn around, fact the future, and barge ahead. You’ll be surprised
what you can do.
Tie up loose
ends
Get your financial house in order. Rewrite your will, change the beneficiaries on your
insurance policies, review your retirement plan documents, clean out your financial closet
and get rid of worn out investments. Straighten your files and square things away. You
can’t move ahead if you are tripping over your financial shoelaces.
about the author: Ginita Wall
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