2016

What Can I Do If My Ex-Husband Won’t Pay Child Support?

Monthly child support payments can be a financial life saver after a divorce, especially if you earn far less than your husband. After a divorce, you will need to learn how to make do on a single income while raising children who seem always to be emptying your refrigerator, growing out of their clothes, and […]

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How to Afford the Education You Need After a Divorce

After a divorce, your financial life is likely going to take a big hit. According to a study by the Government Accountability Office, men will, on average, see a 23% reduction in their household income. Unsurprisingly, that number is much higher for women. They will see an average drop of 41% in household income after

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What Brangelina’s Divorce Can Teach You About the Value of a Prenup

Say it ain’t so! Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are getting divorced. Maybe you were originally on Team Jennifer when Pitt and Jolie got together, but you’ve got to admit the two Hollywood superstars seemed like a match made in gorgeous person heaven. After 10 years of dating (possibly a world record in Hollywood), Pitt

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Returning to the Workforce? It Might Be Time to Consider an Adult Internship.

Getting a job is hard, especially if you happen to have a ten-year gap in your resume and skills rustier than a bike left out all winter. Yet, this is the reality that many women in our country face when they are ready to rejoin the workforce after leaving their careers to raise a family

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Should You Consider a Separation Instead of a Divorce?

Not every marriage ends with an epic fight and an eternal hatred for one another that can never be quenched. In certain cases, a marriage can just quietly wither until one spouse (usually the woman) simply decides that she would be happier on her own. This is especially true of “gray divorces,” divorces that take

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Never Pay Interest on a Credit Card Again – Credit Card Balance Transfers

Life happens, and life can be expensive. Maybe the radiator of your car blew out and you suddenly find yourself handing over your credit card to cover a $2,000 mechanic bill. Or you have to suddenly fly across the country for a week to take care of a sick parent. Or, perhaps you lost your

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Why You Should Make Your Ex-Husband Buy Life Insurance as Part of Your Divorce Settlement

Going through a divorce is a huge emotional blow and will undoubtedly be a pretty big financial blow, too. Even though we ladies are climbing up the rungs of the corporate ladder, we still earn less than men. We are also still more likely to drop out of the workforce in order to care for

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If You Know That You Are Getting a Divorce, Should You Still Pay the Mortgage?

Q. My husband left me three months ago and now wants a divorce. Should I keep paying the mortgage on my house even though he could get half of it? A. It can certainly be financially difficult to carry the full cost of a monthly mortgage payment on your own! We definitely understand why it

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What to Do If You Find Out that Your Spouse Hid Money From You During Your Divorce

Many divorces are downright nasty, especially if a lot of money is on the line. A high-earning spouse isn’t exactly happy to hand over his assets to his soon-to-be ex, especially if they live in a Community Property State that requires couples to equally split their marital estate. Hiding assets during a divorce is more

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Can a Couple with 13 Kids Really Pay Off Their Seven-Bedroom House, Live Debt-Free, and Retire Early?

If you either want to feel extremely inspired or extremely terrible about your own financial habits, head on over to the Washington Post and read the story of the Fatzinger family. Rob and Sam Fatzinger are devout Catholics with thirteen children. Sam is a stay-at-home mom who homeschools her children. Rob, a software tester, earns

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Widows, Do You Have to Pay a Capital Gains Tax If You Sell Your House After the Death of Your Spouse?

If your husband has recently passed away, you may decide it’s time to sell your home. Maybe it holds too many sad memories, or it’s just too big for you to handle on your own, or you simply want to live closer to your children. Whatever your reason, if your house has increased in value

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Can You Get a Better Divorce Settlement If Your Spouse Cheated?

Even though you know that cheating is surprisingly common in marriage (just grab the latest People Magazine if you need a reminder), you never think that it will happen to you…until it does. According to TruthAboutDeception.com, estimates peg infidelity rates in the United States at between 30% – 60%.  It may be nice to know

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Divorce Preparation Guide – Now Is the Time to Start Preparing for a New/Better Job

We’d like to believe that when it comes to life, work, and family that men and women have reached something nearing equality. Not so. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2012, 84% of stay-at-home parents were women. Likewise, women are far more likely not to work or to work part-time than men even if

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Five Reasons Why You Should Request Alimony as a Lump Sum During Your Divorce

If you are in a position to receive alimony as a part of your divorce, the settlement (or the judge) may specify exactly how much your ex-spouse is obligated to pay and over what time period. Normally, your ex would be required to send you a monthly alimony payment, but you can attempt to negotiate

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Why You Should Definitely Never Try to Hide Assets During a Divorce

Understand the Penalty for Hiding Assets During a Divorce You feel angry. Betrayed. Frustrated and furious. Divorce rarely brings out the best in us and oftentimes reveals our inner monsters. This is especially true if abuse and/or infidelity are part of the equation. Nonetheless, you may be obligated to hand over a significant amount of

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Put Your Goals in Pictures

Recently my client Jennifer called me. “I did it!” she exclaimed over the phone. “I bought the vacation home that I visualized.” That excitement in her voice was a pleasure to hear. Seven years ago she was widowed at age 27 when her husband died in an auto accident near their home in Southern California.

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Five Easy Steps to Budget and Save Like a Financial Wizard on a Fluctuating Income

Working for yourself or on commission has a lot of upsides. You might get to work in your comfy flannel PJs, or perhaps your job allows you to spend more time with your kids or earn more than you ever could staring at a cubicle all day. Of course, self-employment or the sales life isn’t

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Waiting for Election Results is not an Investment Strategy

This election season has been interesting to say least, but some things never change, including the leading candidates from both parties predicting dire economic consequences if the other is elected. As we listen to the rants of the various politicians, are there any useful political trends that we can consider as investors? Will the person

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Can I Go After My Husband’s Stock Options and RSUs in a Divorce?

In the past, stock options were primarily an award for a company’s top management team. In the past few decades, however, stock options and RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) have become a much more common employee incentive, and the National Center for Employee Ownership estimates that “since the late1980s, the number of people holding stock options

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Divorce is Probably Way More Expensive Than You Realize

The decision to get divorced should never depend on whether you think you can afford it; however, it is important that during this emotional time you prepare yourself for the potential costs involved. One of the most popular articles on WIFE.org is The Twelve Financial Pitfalls of Divorce. The very first pitfall we wrote about

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Take a Deep Breath – It’s Time to Talk About Saving for Your Child’s College Costs

College. That single word can lift a parent’s spirits and send an icy jolt of fear down their spine at the same time. A college education can play a huge role in a child’s chance for career and financial success, but the price tag can be breathtaking (and not in a good way). According to

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Spring Cleaning After Divorce: Cleaning Out Your Closet and Your Life

Spring has sprung. If you are coming out of the winter of divorce, consider this season as your chance to clean your home and your soul of the emotional burdens. Back by popular demand is this useful and uplifting article. The season of spring is all about renewal, which is why it is the perfect

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Who’s Paying For College? Part Three: Finding a Middle Ground for College Costs

College…it’s expensive. No, really expensive. The sticker price even for an in-state public school can still reach $24,000 a year or more according to CollegeData.com! The question of how to pay for a child’s higher education or even if you should is one that every parent must face. In the previous two articles in this

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Who’s Paying For College? Part Two: The Case for Paying for Your Child’s College Costs

Parents, no doubt that if you had Bill Gates’s money you wouldn’t think twice about paying for your child’s college costs. You might not even mind if your child announces that she wants to double major in philosophy and the history of dance. If you aren’t one of the roughly 1,800 billionaires in the world,

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Who’s Paying For College? Part One: The Case Against Paying Your Child’s College Costs

On the surface, paying for your child’s college seems like a no-brainer. We all know that a college degree is practically a requirement these days to make it into the middle class and that a lack of a degree may bar your child from most careers that don’t include a fast food uniform. As a

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Ten Common Investor Mistakes That Could Tank Your Portfolio – Part One

The world of investing can seem incredibly complex, but it doesn’t have to be if you if you stick with a steady game plan and avoid common investor mistakes that are so often fueled by emotion rather than logic. In this article and a subsequent one, we cover ten mistakes that so many undisciplined investors

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Did You Know That You Can Use Whole Life Insurance for Risk Management?

For many Americans, the idea of “life insurance” only brings to mind a simple term life insurance policy. Term life insurance is the most popular form of life insurance, but it is far from the only option on the market. In fact, insurance companies offer a wide array of life insurance products in order to

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Should You Invest Your Retirement Savings in Indexed Mutual Funds?

When you invest in an actively managed mutual fund, you are investing in expertise. In exchange for an industry average yearly fee of 1.24% of the money you invest, you get a fund manager and a group of analysts who spend their days trying to pick the investments that will earn you the most money

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What Do You Want Your Retirement to Look Like?

We all know the process. Estimate how much money you will need in retirement (which can range anywhere from 70% to over 100% of your pre-retirement income), determine your available income sources (like pensions and Social Security payments), and then calculate how much you will need to save annually so that you can retire on

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What You Should Be Doing to Plan for Retirement – Your 60s and Beyond

Part Five in Our Retirement For a Lifetime Series When you blow out your candles on your 60th birthday, you will be tantalizingly close to the traditional retirement age – 65. Of course, traditions change, and many Americans are reaching this important milestone with big financial worries. According to the Federal Reserve, the median retirement

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I’ll Show You Mine, If You Show Me Your…Credit Report

Why You Must Have the Money Conversation Before Marriage If you are in a serious relationship, you probably know your partner’s favorite color, his dream car, and at least a few embarrassing stories from his childhood. But do you know his credit score? If not, then you don’t really know your partner at all, and

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Four Tips to Slay the Monster Cost of College

A college education is almost a requirement these days in order to break into most well-paying jobs (unless your child is itching to start the next great tech company). However, the cost is steep! According to Collegedata.com, the average cost for a public, in-state college was $23,410 for the 2014-2015 year and $46,272 for a

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Married for More Than Ten Years? You Can Collect Social Security Benefits From Your Ex-Spouse!

If you were married to your ex-spouse for ten or more years, then you are eligible for very important Social Security benefits that could drastically increase how much Social Security you receive each month. Who doesn’t want a bigger Social Security check each month? No one, that’s right! So keep reading. Even if you are

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How Much Flexibility Is Too Much In Your Financial Plan?

When it comes to your financial plan, it is important to maintain enough flexibility so that your plan can accommodate unexpected events that are out of your control. On the other hand, a sound financial plan needs to be firmly grounded by factors you can control so that even in the face of unexpected events,

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Why You Deserve a Dream Bucket Even If You’re Just Making Ends Meet

In his latest bestseller, Money Master The Game, Tony Robbins encourages his readers to create a dream bucket for themselves. This is basically a piggy bank for your dreams where you save the money that will finance that things you’ve secretly been holding inside your heart. Maybe it’s money to go back to school and

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How Understanding the Female Brain Can Make You a More Savvy Investor

In the book, Unleash the Power of the Female Brain, Dr. Daniel G. Amen, a psychiatrist and brain imaging expert, imaged the brains of 46,000 men and women. He compared the blood flow and activity patterns between male and female brains and found significant differences. In summarizing his finding, Dr. Amen reported that female brains

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Can I Still Visit My Grandchildren After a Divorce?

Watching your child go through a divorce is a difficult experience, especially when emotions get hot. What’s even worse is the possibility that your child’s spouse will receive full custody of your grandchildren and may seek to prevent you from having contact with them. Divorce has a tendency to bring out the worst in people,

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