Stacy Francis Quoted by theSkimm: Getting Divorced? Here’s What a Financial Pro Wishes More Women Knew
What are some financial challenges I might face post-divorce?
Stacy Francis, President and CEO of Francis Financial met with Sarah Estime of theSkimm about how you can prepare your finances for divorce.
Overall, women tend to take quite a few more years to financially recover from a divorce than our male counterparts. There are a few reasons for that. Women often take a backseat in their careers to take care of others, including the important work of raising children and taking care of aging parents. Women, I’ve found, really struggle when it comes to their finances after a divorce. Especially if they haven’t really been in the driver’s seat and making decisions for their household’s finances.
The most important thing is to get on top of your finances. Understand what your income is and what your spending is. Use resources like Mint or YNAB to start tracking what you have coming in and going out. Then, get an understanding of your assets and your debt (that’s often a big surprise for people). Take a look at your house on Zillow to get an estimate of what its value might be. Get copies of your checking and savings account statements. If you’re unsure of how much you have in brokerage accounts, go to your tax return and look under the area with dividends, capital gains, distributions, and interest. Often those accounts will list the name of the financial institution where they’re located. Try to put as much information together as possible before the divorce proceedings start.
Learn more about the divorce financial planning process and how Francis Financial can help guide you through a divorce or contact a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst.