Jamie Lima remembers his divorce six years ago as one of the most emotionally draining and financially challenging experiences of his life.
As a result, he resolved to use his professional background as a certified financial planner to help other people going through similar situations.
“I want to make sure other people don’t step on the same landmines and be an advocate for them,” says Mr Lima, founder of the California-based Allegiant Divorce Solutions, a financial planning company that helps people going through divorce.
While the financial aspect of divorce is often overshadowed by the emotional impact, rebuilding finances after the dissolution of a marriage can be an integral part of overall recovery.
Mr Lima and other financial experts recommend following these steps to navigate the financial challenges post a divorce:
1. Adjust to your new cash flow
A separation of finances after a divorce may mean you have to do more with less.
“You want to start to look at, ‘If I walk away with half the assets and these are my income streams and this is my lifestyle, what will I have to do?’” says Erin Voisin, a financial planner and director of financial planning at EP Wealth Advisers in California.
The answer might be changing your spending habits and adapting to a new budget, she adds.
“Your whole timeline of your life might also have to change,” says Megan Kopka, a financial planner and founder of Kopka Financial in North Carolina.
You might need to delay retirement or put off a career change, for example.
“A lot of people are basing their mortgages and lifestyles on two incomes, so everybody has to reassess” following divorce, she says.
2. Rebuild your safety net
Dominique Reese, chief executive of Reese Financial Services, a financial coaching company in Los Angeles, says many people also need to rebuild their savings after going through the financial shock of divorce.
She suggests giving yourself microgoals to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
“Everybody’s financial situation is different, but you can start off with $100 and then let’s go to $300, then $500” and onward, Ms Reese says.
While it’s ideal to save three to six months’ worth of expenses, she acknowledges that amount is impossible for many people and says a smaller goal can be more motivating.
3. Build credit in your own name
Opening bank accounts and credit cards in your name only, if you had not previously done so while married, is also a critical step towards rebuilding finances post-divorce, Voisin says.
“It’s important to build credit in your own name,” Ms Voisin says, as well as save for retirement in your own account, update your real estate documents to reflect the correct owner, and update any beneficiaries listed on your financial and life insurance accounts.
This multistep process can take several months or longer.
While marital status is not reflected on credit reports, getting divorced can indirectly impact your credit because of shared accounts or if you used credit cards only as an authorised user on your spouse’s accounts.
Post-divorce, it can be a good idea to request your free credit report to make sure it no longer lists your former spouse’s accounts or accounts previously held jointly but no longer yours.
4. Get help from experts
Given how complicated the financial aspect of divorce can be, sometimes turning to professionals can be worth the cost.
“Before you hire your attorney, hiring a certified divorce financial analyst to help you with finances and a good divorce coach to guide you through the emotional aspect can help a lot,” Mr Lima says.
Divorce coaches focus on helping clients achieve their goals for their post-divorce life.
Mr Lima says consulting such professionals is something he wished he had done sooner when going through his own divorce because third-party input might have helped him make more rational, less emotional decisions around separating his finances.
5. In future relationships, talk about money early
While most couples don’t sign a pre-nuptial agreement, which generally lays out how money and assets are to be divided in the event of a divorce, financial experts say having one in place can make sorting out finances post-divorce much easier.
That can be especially important when getting remarried later in life with more assets or when children are involved.
If a couple isn’t comfortable talking about a pre-nup, they may have some work to do before committing to a lifelong partnership, says Nicole Sodoma, a family law attorney at Sodoma Law in North Carolina.
Talking about a pre-nup, she says, forces couples to have hard conversations about money that they might ignore otherwise.
“Hopefully, after having those discussions and agreeing on a pre-nup, you’ll put it in a drawer or safe and never need it,” she adds.
“But in the event you do, it will be a diagram for what separation looks like.”
The biog
Age: 59
From: Giza Governorate, Egypt
Family: A daughter, two sons and wife
Favourite tree: Ghaf
Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense
Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”
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Match info
Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
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More coverage from the Future Forum
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Mobile phone packages comparison
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Liverpool 4-1 Shrewsbury
Liverpool
Gordon (34'), Fabinho (44' pen, 90' 3), Firmino (78')
Shrewsbury
Udoh (27'minutes)
Man of the Match: Kaide Gordon (Liverpool)
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
if you go
The flights
Flydubai offers three daily direct flights to Sarajevo and, from June, a daily flight from Thessaloniki from Dubai. A return flight costs from Dhs1,905 including taxes.
The trip
The Travel Scientists are the organisers of the Balkan Ride and several other rallies around the world. The 2018 running of this particular adventure will take place from August 3-11, once again starting in Sarajevo and ending a week later in Thessaloniki. If you’re driving your own vehicle, then entry start from €880 (Dhs 3,900) per person including all accommodation along the route. Contact the Travel Scientists if you wish to hire one of their vehicles.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
