Bringing in the New Year
This article was written by Freya Robbins
Happy New Year to You! Out With the Old and In with the New!!
Are you suffering from Holiday Hangover? Many couples feel that way after the Holidays! The holiday season typically consists of dealing with family issues, in-laws and finances that can strain your marriage. Many divorces can be prevented if couples would stop and get the financial help that is strangling their marriage.
Most of these things you actually have control over, it just feels at times like you don’t. What can you do now in terms of planning to start fresh? Instead of setting up New Years Resolutions that will soon be broken, try a plan that is workable.
What do you want to accomplish? What is out of whack in your life? First I will do a little brainstorming with you and then I will follow it up with some particular suggestions of what you can do.
Here are some areas that might be of interest to assess in your life: finances, taxes, credit card debt, other debt, investments, allowance for your children, budgeting, college expense and income, etc. Some other areas of concern may be related to the financial issues, such as who has knowledge of the above and do you feel there is an imbalance of control or power regarding them? That alone can cause marital discord.
Are you generally satisfied with your life? Are you doing the kind of work you enjoy and are your being paid fairly for it? Would you like to become educated in a different field or change your career path in any way? Have you been out of the work force for a while but have a desire to return but don’t know where to start? You might benefit by doing an interest survey to see if you are on the right career path.
Do you feel like life is passing you by and you don’t have a clue what your own financial situation is let alone a plan for making it better? STOP right there! There is plenty you can do and you don’t have to do it all at once either. You can take it a step at a time. Think of your financial plan as going on a trip. If you were going on a vacation, wouldn’t you first determine where your destination was? You would also need to consider where you were at currently and how you were going to arrive at your final destination. Hopefully you plan to have some fun along the way. If you are not having any fun it probably means that your situation could use an assessment. A simple beginning is where am I at now and where do I want to go.
When we work with a couple or an individual we take it from that approach. Where do you want to end up? What that means is, how much money monthly do you need to live on now, in the near future and in the distant future. What do you want to accomplish financially? Do you want to set up a fund for your children for college or are you going to let them handle their own higher education expenses? Do want to have money set aside for your own retirement? Do you already have a plan for that? Are you in the process of buying or selling real estate? How are you at keeping a checking account? Do you know what your net worth is? Do you know what your monthly income and expenses are? Do you need to replace appliances or make repairs that are of significant expense? Are you planning on making any significant changes to your monthly income or expenses? We specialize in helping with all of this.
When we are working with a couple or individual whose marriage is ending in divorce or separation, we help them plan financially so that both parties are involved in the decision making and they both understand what the outcome will be. It is important that it follows the states guidelines (statutes) regarding divorce as well as it needs to be fair. Divorce can be emotionally devastating, it should not be financially crippling also. We will help you work through the details of dividing the assets, determining alimony, if there will be any and also child support calculations.
If you want to either bolster your marriage by getting the financial part on track or you know it will end in divorce, we can help you weed through the complexities. Begin by making a list of priorities that you want to accomplish. Feel free to call or email with any questions if you are having difficulty getting started. If you would like, call and come in for a complimentary consultation to determine if our process and personalities will work for you.