Posts tagged "financial planning"

It is officially wedding season in New Jersey and the rest of the nation. But if you are one of the lucky brides- or grooms-to-be, make sure you take financial planning into consideration before saying "I do." The sad truth is that approximately 10 percent of all marriages fail during the first five years, and another 25 percent don't make it to 10 years.

Although divorce is probably the furthest thing from your mind, it's wise to be prepared, as a recent Huffington Post article discussed. The article suggests three important financial steps to take before your wedding day. Here is a brief summary of the three steps:

It may seem pessimistic, but in the midst of wedding season it's worth remembering that roughly half of those unions will ultimately end in divorce. Divorce is one of the realities of getting married, even though many people don't expect their marriages to end prematurely.

When this tragedy strikes it's important to look at things with a clear vision. This includes the divorce settlement process, which can be long, complicated and painful, but is essential to your post-divorce financial well-being. Too often, spouses going through a divorce make damaging decisions that come back to haunt them in the future.

Divorce rates among the baby boomer generation in New Jersey and the rest of the United States have reached unprecedented historical highs for that age demographic. As of 2009, one in four divorces nationally involved baby boomers, compared to just one in 10 in 1990.

Although there are a number of cultural factors that could be cited as reasons why the divorce rate among aging couples is on the rise, the fact remains that divorce among older couples present unique considerations compared to divorce among younger couples.

Going through a divorce can be very difficult, both emotionally and financially speaking. Before reaching a settlement agreement, an individual might find it hard to scrape up enough money to pay the mortgage, attorney fees and other expenses that pile up during a divorce.

However, as a recent article from the Huffington Post pointed out, there are several steps individuals in New Jersey and elsewhere can take to stay on the right track financially while their divorce is in progress. Here are several of the steps:

No two divorces in New Jersey look the exact same. Similarly, some people appear to come out of a divorce feeling happy and secure, while others appear grief-stricken and worried. To an extent, it is possible to control the outcome of a divorce by taking certain steps within the process.

A recent article from the Huffington Post outlined six strategies, particularly for women, which can help to achieve a more positive outcome from a divorce. The family law attorney who supplied the strategies said that they should work for women of all ages who are going through divorce.

Valentine's Day is one of the most popular days of the year for engagements. But once these newly engaged couples return from cloud nine, they might want to think about getting a prenuptial agreement, an article from Reuters said.

In recent years, prenuptial agreements have become a popular step in wedding planning, and not just for the wealthy. In fact, a poll by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 2010 revealed that close to a third of single Americans said they'd ask their significant other for a prenup.

Welcome back to our discussion on Social Security retirement benefits and divorce. As a recent article from the Wall Street Journal pointed out, many people don't realize that they can base their Social Security retirement benefit on their former spouse's earning record even after divorce.

Ultimately, a person has a choice to collect retirement benefits based on his or her own earning record, or take 50 percent of his or her former spouse's benefit, so long as certain guidelines are met. Please see the previous post for more detailed information, and we will continue here with our discussion.

Many people beyond retirement age in New Jersey and the rest of the country depend on Social Security benefits for their income. If you are one of these people and are divorced, you may want to check to make sure that you are getting the full amount of Social Security benefits you are eligible for.

If you get divorced today with the help of an experienced family law attorney, he or she will surely go over how your Social Security will be affected by your divorce. But if you go through the process on your own, or you were divorced many years ago, you might have missed an important opportunity that was recently discussed in an article from the Wall Street Journal.

Historically, January is the most popular month of the year for divorce. According to The Huffington Post, January has even been dubbed "Divorce Month" by some in the legal field.

The question is, why is the month of January known for high divorce filings? Is it the cold weather? Could it be the aftereffect of holiday stress? Or are people just ready to begin a new life along with the new year?

Last January, the founder of DivorcedWomenOnline.com told The Huffington Post that she sees a surge in people surfing her online divorce information immediately after the holidays. She suggested that parents typically wait until mid-January to file for divorce to let their children enjoy the holidays together.

Welcome back. Here are the three remaining tips from a recent Business Insider article on how to protect yourself financially during and after a divorce.

2. Pay attention to your credit. It's very important to protect your credit when going through a divorce, the article said. Joint debt can be very difficult to split, which is why it's a good idea to separate loan and credit card accounts immediately.

Typically, splitting jointly-held debt requires the couple to either pay off the debt or have one party removed from the loan and the other party refinance. This is a crucial step.

One thing you do not want to do is sign over the ownership of a car or home to your ex but leave your name on the loan. It could leave you responsible should your ex stop making payments, the article pointed out.

Many people begin a divorce thinking that it will be relatively headache free, and that they will be able to go their separate ways with few roadblocks.

However, as a recent article from Business Insider pointed out, people are often surprised when the divorce process turns out to be a little more complicated than that, especially when it comes to finances.

This is why it's important to have an experienced family law attorney on your side, who can help you make sure all your bases are covered. There are other professionals, like financial advisors, therapists and child specialists, who can also help along the way.

Not all accusations of domestic violence are real. However, there are many instances where domestic violence is far too real. In some situations, the abuser controls the victim and the victim's finances to the point that the victim feels powerless and unable to leave the relationship.

This issue was discussed in a recent article from The Huffington Post, which gave several steps that abuse victims can take to help gain the financial freedom that could allow them to leave their abusers. The article said that by taking these steps and seeking professional help, a new life is possible.

Although sometimes accusations of domestic violence are false or exaggerated, it continues to be a real problem in New Jersey and the rest of the country. Anyone can be affected by domestic violence as it doesn't target only a specific sex, age or race.

Each day, people are threatened, controlled, hurt and killed by their spouses. Many abuse victims stay with their abusers because they don't feel able to leave. In some circumstances, victims have no financial independence and that's why they feel compelled to stay.

A recent article from The Huffington Post addressed this issue and gave several tips for gaining financial independence for victims who feel trapped in abusive marriages. But first, the article pointed out that there is help available for abuse victims. Victims do not need to be alone in the struggle to leave their abusers.

Last week, Reuters published an interesting article about the effect the recession has had on recently divorced people, particularly women. The article concluded that far too many women are leaving marriages without the necessary money management skills, which can be a recipe for disaster in the current financial climate.

Reportedly, the divorce rate has somewhat followed the economy. For a while there, many people couldn't afford to get a divorce, so the divorce rate plummeted. But as the economy slowly but surely continues to rise, so will the divorce rate. What people need to know is that the recession will continue to have an impact on divorce proceedings from here on out, experts say.