FOR WOMEN

As a Divorce Financial Planner, Lee works with you and your attorney to help obtain a settlement that is workable now and in the future. Through his analysis of your financial situation, he is able to answer questions like Can you afford to keep the house? What will your post divorce lifestyle be like? Will you be able to survive on the support your spouse is offering?

Gayle | Jennifer and Gene | Ike and Tina

Jennifer and Gene

Jennifer and Gene were getting divorced after a 12-year marriage. Jennifer wanted to keep the house more than anything else. She felt it would give her and the kids the stability they needed. They had few other assets so when Gene proposed that Jennifer trade her share of his pension for the house, Jennifer agreed initially. While Jennifer had a good job as a secretary to a local attorney, she had not looked closely at the after-tax cash flow that she would need to pay the mortgage and expenses of keeping the house. I reviewed Gene's settlement offer.

The bottom line was that if Jennifer kept the house, the cost of the mortgage and upkeep of the house would eat up all her available cash flow. Jennifer would not have enough money for vacations, the kids' college expenses, or other things that the family was used to having. Since Jennifer was 50, her retirement outlook would have been bleak." After understanding her options, Jennifer decided to buy a condo in the same school district, invest the balance of the house proceeds and keep her half of Gene's pension.